Baby, The Flame
by gothpandaotaku
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Rin runs away from True Cross Academy. The Vatican finds him and forces him to do horrible things. Rin is forced to choose between a life as a human or a demon. Eventual light Okumuracest. Slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first Blue Exorcist fic. I'm really nervous. Up until now, I've only done Sasunaru fics...**

**Well, if this fic continues... It MAY contain slight MephistoXRin, abuse, rape, and other things. It WILL contain Okumuracest, self mutilation, potty mouths, and angst. Lots of angst.**

**Disclaimer: No ownie, that honor belongs to Kazue Kato-sensei... :C**

**FYI, the prologue takes place in the future, in the last chapter... Just to be clear. Also the background of this fic is the same up until chapter fifteen. The events of this fic happen instead of the Kyoto mission.**

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

"_No! Don't do it!"_

_The figure paused. It slowly turned around to face the person who dared call after him. Though it was dark, the exorcist could see the figure's eyes clearly; they seemed to glow in the darkness. They were cold, like he had never seen before._

"_I have to." The figure clothed in black, to blend in with the night, said, with his voice as icy as his eyes were. Then he turned once more and continued towards the gate._

"_Please don't do this! Please! There's another way! This can't be the only answer!" The exorcist's voice shook, practically begging now._

_The figure didn't even turn around. It just walked straight into the gate._

_But not before locking eyes with the other boy and, the boy could have sworn, mouthing "I'm sorry."_

_The gate closed, and there was silence._

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><p>"Are you ready?"<p>

Okumura Rin nodded, his eyes blazing with determination, and the heat of battle. Rin knew he shouldn't, but he loved missions like these. Everyone else in the circle followed suit, and nodded, their eyes determined as well.

"Then let's go!" Suguro Ryuji, AKA Bon, yelled in a way that was meant to be motivational, and stood up from his crouching position.

Rin, Shima, Konekomaru, Shiemi, and Izumo followed suit.

The group of exwires were on a mission much harder than they'd anticipated. Demons of all types were running rampant throughout the world right now, as if a switch has turned on, and exorcists were quickly becoming few and far between. Many of them had fallen in the line of duty lately, especially in the last couple of months. Things had gotten so bad that the Knights of the True Cross had to rely on exwires, the lowest of the low. That explained why Rin and company were currently out on assignment far away from True Cross Academy. It didn't explain, however, why they were surrounded on all sides by hordes of demons so thick none of them could see past the bushes they were hiding in. And not just low level demons, either. Some of them were pretty high level, and really shouldn't be left to those that technically weren't exorcists yet.

They had no choice but to fight for their lives. The one seasoned exorcist that had been assigned to watch over them had died hours ago, eaten by a demon.

The six exwires dashed out of their hiding spot. The plan?

There was none.

The exwires were so hopelessly outnumbered that chances were low they'd all survive this. There were no reinforcements nearby that could get here in time. After a quick strategy meeting, and realizing their odds, the six of them had just decided to do their best and take as many down as possible.

Rin unsheathed Kurikara as he charged at the demons, brilliant blue flame spurted all around him. His fangs grew longer and sharper, his ears grew long and pointy like an elf's, his nails grew into claws, and his tail popped out, just like it always did.

Rin loved the feeling. It was such a rush, to have all this power at your fingertips. But Rin knew where all this power came from, and that kept him from fully giving himself over to it.

Much as Rin hated anything to do with his "father", he knew he needed his flames to fight. So, faced with an army of demons intent on killing him and his friends, Rin did the only thing he could think of.

He gave his flames control. He let loose, burning anything he didn't immediately recognize as a comrade.

Before long the whole forest was on fire. Just this one time, it worked to their advantage as it spread, killing demons without Rin having to lift a finger. But already, it was hard to stay in control. To maintain his sanity.

_Fight it! You gotta fight it! Show those flames whose boss! _Rin repeated this over and over in his mind, like a mantra. _You control your flames! Don't let them control you! Don't fear them! _As if he said it enough, it might be true.

Demon after demon met its end at the point of Rin's sword, but they still kept coming. _Dammit, they're fucking never-ending! I cut down two, and like five more show up! Aren't there any more exorcists left in this part of Japan?_

Rin slashed Kurikara through a particularly nasty smelling, large demon before feeling secure enough to take a glance around to look for his friends.

Suguro was across the clearing, crouching down in a defensive position, while chanting the death verse of the demons around him, who were thankfully all the same species, so they'd all die at the same time. His right arm was bleeding heavily, so Rin guessed that was why he wasn't physically fighting. Shima and Konekomaru were a few feet in front of Suguro, warding off the demons trying to get their friend. Shima used his staff, while Konekomaru chanted and threw holy water grenades.

Izumo was behind Rin, throwing grenades as well. Her two foxes faithfully destroyed any demons coming near her.

They all looked so exhausted. Being half demon, of Satan no less, Rin had a lot more energy than the rest of his team. They were sweaty and panting; their clothes stained with gore and dirt. Konekomaru swayed, and looked about ready to pass out.

_Shit. We gotta end this quickly. But these fucking demons keep coming! Everyone looks so tired… Wait, where's Shiemi?_

As Rin scanned the area, all the while slashing demons, seeing his friends fighting for their lives, his flames subconsciously were brought closer to the clearing, tightening their ring around the forest.

Suguro, Shima, and especially Konekomaru flinched at the close proximity, visibly uncomfortable. It brought back painful memories of what those same blue flames had caused them to lose. Of what they could still lose. But now wasn't the time for that, so the three did their best to ignore the brilliant blue lighting up the forest.

Izumo didn't even give any indication that she had noticed them, though they were impossible to miss. The flames were bright enough to illuminate everything in sight, making it easy to see their adversaries, and working to their advantage once again. The forest would be very dark otherwise.

Finally, Rin spots Shiemi just outside the clearing with her little greenman, nee, at her side. She was walking further away, with her familiar following,

_That idiot! Why didn't she stay with Izumo? _

A group of at least twenty demons was surrounding Shiemi, ready to pounce. Seeing this, Rin gave up on clearing his own area of the clearing and ran for Shiemi.

Abruptly, Shiemi darts underneath the legs of a tall demon with a speed no one knew she possessed. She appeared to have no direction, darting back from left to right as she dodged demon after demon.

As Rin ran after Shiemi, slashing demons in his path, he saw what she must be running towards as he drew nearer. A little boy, no older than five or so, was pinned against a tree trunk by a demon squeezing his throat. There was no way he could breathe, and it appeared the demon intended to suffocate the little guy slowly.

Rin ran faster, trying to catch up with Shiemi. There was no way she could save the little boy alone.

Out of nowhere, a gigantic demon appears behind Shiemi, with its skin rotting off, giving a horrible stench. It heads for Shiemi, unbeknownst to the blonde. She doesn't even sense it because the demon nearly blends into the surroundings; Rin's fire hadn't reached there yet. Its grotesque, huge hand reaches out for Shiemi's hair, missing her by a mere centimeter. Because of its size, it must be a little slower than your average demon. It tries again, misses by half a centimeter. But it won't get another chance.

"Shiemi!" Rin yells, causing both Shiemi and the demon to turn around. Thankfully, Shiemi doesn't stop running, unlike the demon. The demon doesn't fail to notice, and with a leap, finally succeeds in grabbing Shiemi's shoulder.

"Shiemi!" Rin yells again, and flames burst out everywhere. Hotter than ever before, they latch onto everything in sight. Even Shiemi.

It's like an electric shock, straight through Rin's veins. The shock flows throughout his body, like a livewire. It was better than any high, Rin was sure. The pure, raw strength flowing through him… It was unimaginable. Rapidly, Rin felt himself slipping; losing to that shock flowing through him like a poison.

_No. No. No. Stay calm. Control your flames! Control your flames! Don't lose to them! _Slowly, ever so slowly, the flames began to die down where they were not wanted. Rin stood in place for a minute, staring at the spot where the demon had been before being burned alive. _Shiemi!_

Frantically, Rin ran to Shiemi several feet ahead, who was lying face down in the ground. Rin shook her, but she didn't move. No. she couldn't be. She just couldn't be. There were no burns on her, only a scratch or two. Even in his half-crazed state, Rin had thought of Shiemi enough to know not to burn her. So why… why wasn't she moving?

"Shiemi! Wake up! You have to wake up!" Rin shook her and shook her, but to no avail. He felt a pulse, and her breathing was normal, so Rin surmised that Shiemi must have just passed out from shock. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Sensing a presence behind him, Rin turns around to see the little boy Shiemi had been trying to save. The demon must have been killed by Rin's flame. It's a miracle that the boy hadn't been burnt himself.

The little boy had short, light brown hair that fell over his chocolate brown eyes on his cherubic face. Pink lips trembled, trying to hold back more tears and screams. There was obvious fear in his eyes, but the way his little body was shaking violently made the fear more visible.

The boy stood there, holding an arm that had a bloody gash; his shirt was ripped in a few places, and there were red markings that would turn into bruises on his throat where the demon had strangled him, but other than that, he seemed fine. After a few seconds the boy gave in and started to cry.

Oh. Of course. Of course he was scared of Rin. Standing over Shiemi, with his fangs bared and flames floating around, not to mention that fact that it was obvious the flames were under his control. He must look really scary, with blood on his shirt from the multiple scratches and lacerations that he had gotten from demons as he'd charged through the forest. He must look… Like a demon. And a demon had just tried to kill that little boy.

Wonderful.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Rin said softly, trying to calm the child down. "It's okay. I'm here to help you. Please don't cry."

When Rin took one step forward, the little boy backed up, and started sobbing.

"Hey! Calm down! It's okay!" Rin couldn't help raising his voice as he grew more panicked. He took another step, but stopped when the boy's sobs grew louder, and put his hands up in the air to show he meant no harm. It didn't seem to help thought, as the boy kept sobbing.

"See, look, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? Can you calm down?" Rin worked on keeping his voice steady, low, and calm, but it was kind of hard when your friends could possibly be dying all around you. It does something to a guy.

The boy whimpered and sunk to the ground. He put his head between his knees and sobbed some more. He was sure he was going to die by this demon now.

"I told you, I'm not the bad guy here! Why are you so scared of me?" Rin almost yelled, getting irritated, even though he already knew the answer. But time was a luxury he couldn't afford right now.

"You're gonna eat me, aren't you? You saved me from that other demon to eat me yourself, didn't you? You're gonna eat me!" The boy wailed, his shoulder shaking violently from the sobs.

Suddenly, or not so suddenly, Rin was pissed. Here he went to all this trouble to save the little brat and Shiemi, and what thanks did he get? Some boy telling him he was a cannibal!

"I don't think you'd taste good." Rin growled, and he couldn't help but glare.

"But you went after that lady! You hurt her! That's why she's on the ground, not moving! You're a monster!" The boy wailed again.

He did _not _just say that. That word was a big no-no in Rin's book. He was _pissed _now.

"Listen here, you little sh-" Rin yelled back, but was cut off by Suguro, Shima, and Konekomaru running in front of the little boy and yelling.

"Don't touch him, Okumura! What have you done?"

Rin froze. Why… Why were they looking the boy over, as if to be sure Rin hadn't hurt him? Why were they looking at Rin as he were the monster here?

"What the hell? I didn't do anything but save his ass!" Rin glared at the three exwires in front of the little boy. He took a step forward.

"Don't come any closer, Okumura! You set the forest on fire, attacked Shiemi, and were coming for this little boy! What are we supposed to think?" Suguro glared, and Shima nodded, agreeing.

Rin's expression remained that of fury, but inside it felt like his heart was being torn to pieces. How could they think he'd ever attack Shiemi or an innocent little boy? They hadn't been on the best of terms as of late, since it hadn't been too long since they'd found out about his demonic heritage, but didn't they know him better than that?

"Look, I saved all your sorry asses! I made sure the fire didn't spread too much, and I did my best to not burn down too many trees! It killed more demons than any of your little spells did! And Shiemi's fine, she just fainted!"

Rin took a step forward, despite what Suguro had said a minute ago, but when Shima grabbed his staff defensively and aimed it at Rin, he froze. The way they looked at him like he was a wild animal. The fear in their eyes they were trying so hard not to show, but he still saw it. The little boy's cowering. The way they stood in front of the boy protectively, but their stances offensive. Ready to defend _from _Rin and _to _attack Rin. Even Izumo, from her stance several feet away, throwing grenades at any left-over demons that came too close to the other exwires, seemed to be eying Rin warily.

It was all too much. Rin's blood boiled, and his flames shot up all around. They surrounded the group, with each second drawing closer to the four. They backed up, fear written all over their faces. The little boy screamed.

_Calm down! Calm down! Calm down! Don't let those flames get any closer! Make them go away! They're too hot! Cool them down! _Rin worked on steadying his breathing, and slowly, oh so slowly, he felt the heat and adrenaline in his veins start to fade. The flames died out just as slowly, leaving bare patches of dirt on the forest floor. Rin panted slightly with the effort it took to force the flames and the raw energy away. He would sheathe his sword, but he needed to be ready at a moment's notice in case any demons came back or more appeared.

Suguro stepped forward this time, his fists clenched angrily, and spoke heatedly "You're losing control, Okumura. Keep it up and you'll kill us all." With that, he stalked off to pick up Shiemi, Shima, Konekomaru (who had been cowering almost as much as the little boy throughout the exchange), and the boy following closely behind, leaving a shocked and frozen Rin standing rigidly with his bowed.

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><p>Okumura Yukio walked through the ornately decorated hallway of the Knights of the True Cross Japan Branch HQ with the quick, deliberate steps of someone with a purpose. A purpose, to be specific, that they didn't' exactly enjoy.<p>

Yukio knew the calm mask he had on didn't betray the anxiousness he was feeling. Even though his heart was beating faster than it should, his impassive expression betrayed nothing. When he reached his destination he opened the door to the office and strode in with confidence. But not too much to appear impolite, of course. Even though he was pretty sure that he could take on the one that sat in the huge desk, if it came down to it.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Yukio asked politely.

"Yes," The man replied just as polite, but with a haughty tone "It's about Okumura Rin."

"My brother?" Oh, this could _not_ be good.

"Yes. We have decided that he needs to be dealt with. Permanently."

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><p>Rin lay on his bed, flat on his back, just staring at the ceiling. Kuro lay on his stomach, and he just stroked him, keeping a peaceful rhythm. It felt good to see the demon cat again. Rin hadn't seen the little guy in over a week, due to the mission, which he had just got back from last night. He had been instructed to leave Kuro behind, since the academy had requested Kuro's services again to guard it. The demons were greatly increasing around the Academy too.<p>

The cat had been even clingier than normal ever since Rin got back. When he'd walked through the door it had jumped on him with such force he'd been knocked back a few feet, Kuro's cries of "Rin! Rin! I missed you, Rin!" drowning out anything else. It hadn't left his side since. For that, Rin was grateful. Yukio hadn't been home last night, and he didn't feel like being alone.

So there Rin lay, pondering how to fix the latest mess he'd gotten into, when the door burst open. The other occupant of the dorm, Yukio, stormed in, throwing his bag on his bed angrily. He didn't even look at Rin, although the older twin could practically see the dark aura radiating off the younger one.

That was _not _a good sign. Rin had only seen Yukio like this a handful of times, and each time Rin had secretly been a little scared for his life. He had no idea what made Yukio that mad this time, but at times like these, it was best to just shut up, suck it up, and put up. Making no sudden movements and no eye contact helped too.

That's why Rin said nothing back; he just lay and stroked Kuro, like had been for about a half hour. It wasn't like him to stay still this long, but even he had his moments.

Yukio was even more still, just standing there tensely, his back to Rin and the dark aura growing. Rin was startled when Yukio finally spoke.

"What are you doing?" it was said almost blankly, but knowing Yukio as well as he did, Rin sensed the hidden malice behind the words. It made him shiver ever so slightly.

"Nothing." Rin said quickly, trying not to run out of the room as fast as he could. He had no idea what was going on to make Yuko act like this, but he knew it couldn't be something good.

"Nothing? So you're doing nothing?" Rin nodded reluctantly. He didn't like where this was going.

"So you have nothing else you could be doing right now?" Rin shrugged. Yeah, he could be training with his flames right now, but he just didn't' feel like seeing all that blue again.

"You mean nothing like homework that I assigned you?" And with that, Yukio began yelling, unable to hold his anger back any longer. "HERE I WORK MY ASS OFF TRYING TO MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR YOU, AND YET YOU JUST SIT THERE DOING NOTHING? DO YOU EVEN CARE WHAT I HAVE TO GO THROUGH? AND WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKNG? YOU LOST CONTROL AGAIN, DIDN'T YOU? ATTACKING SHIEMI AND A LITTLE BOY! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! CAN'T YOU ANYTHING RIGHT? STOP ACTING LIKE AN ANIMAL! YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR ME AS WELL!"

Yukio breathed heavily, finally taking a breath. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It felt good. Until he looked at Rin's face.

Rin looked like he'd been slapped. There was no other way to describe it. His eyes were wide with shock. Ever so slightly more watery than normal. For a brief second, Yukio could see the aspects of the slap that weren't physical: the pain. The raw pain.

Whenever a person is slapped, even if the act itself didn't' hurt that much, it still caused pain, pain that you could see in a person's eyes. And right now, Yukio could see that pain in Rin's eyes, even though he hadn't actually been slapped.

When Rin noticed Yukio was staring at him he jumped off the bed and ran out the door, slamming it behind him. It left cracks in the wall.

Kuro sat on the bed, disgruntled from being thrown off his favorite resting place, and shocked from the words that had been exchanged. He had never heard Yukio yell like that. He hissed at Yukio for yelling at his master, for hurting him like that, and then ran off after Rin.

Yukio stood there, stunned. He honestly hadn't even realized how angry he was until he was yelling. But that wasn't the reason why he was frozen in shock. No, it was because of how Rin had reacted to it. If he thought about it, he would have expected Rin to yell right back, to get angry right back. It was what he had always done.

But not to look like that. Not to look so pained. Ht had never seen his brother like that. And to know that he was the cause of it… Yukio ran his hands through his brunette hair and sighed. Maybe he had taken things too far. He had just been so angry after his meeting…

Yukio sighed again. That was no excuse. He never should have taken it out on Rin, no matter how angry he was. He was doing everything to protect Rin, not hurt him.

A few minutes later, when Yukio was out of his exorcist gear, he walked over to Rin's desk to look for the envelope that had month's food allowance. He'd get go get some groceries before looking for Rin, so that they'd both have time to cool off. Maybe he'd even make dinner tonight, something he'd never done before, to cheer Rin up.

As Yukio moved various things around on top of Rin's cluttered desk, ranging from candy to pencils to manga, he finally found the envelope under a piece of paper. As he grabbed for it, the paper fluttered to the floor. After grabbing the envelope Yuko bent down to pick up the paper. He glanced at it before putting it back on the desk. Yukio did a double take, he was so surprised by what the piece of paper held.

It was the homework, completely done, and mostly correct, by the looks of it.

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><p><strong>So, should this continue? I have a couple chapters prewritten, if y'all think I should. Please let me know what you think of this. I accept CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I would love you forever if you reviewed. So, please, please do! Lemme know if you have any questions or suggestions too. Please review! :D I ALWAYS reply to reviewers!<strong>


	2. Okumurasensei!

**Wooo! Next chapter! Remember, this is an EVENTUAL Okumuracest fic. It'll take a while for them to get together. BUT, in the meantime, there shall be fluff! Fluffy fluff! Fluff for all! XD Don't worry, it won't be TOO fluffy though... I think.**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I own nada.**

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><p>Rin lay on his favorite spot on the roof of the dorm, alone for once. The cool breeze of the early evening felt good, and the view was awesome. But try as he might, he couldn't appreciate any of that right now. The sky was a pale grey, and the lights form below of various buildings gave it almost a glowing effect. But even that couldn't shake him out of his reverie.<p>

For the second time that day, Rin was contemplating how people were treating him like a… demon. Well, he was one, but did they really need to treat him like a beast? Like some uncontrollable monster? It hurt. It hurt a lot.

It hurt to see the friends he'd trusted, cared for, counted on, fought beside, laughed with, and confided in have fear in their eyes when looking at him.

It hurt to see them ready to attack him at a moment's notice.

It hurt to see them in the classroom, laughing, talking and laughing together, but completely ignoring him.

It hurt to see them think that he would actually attack them and an innocent child.

It hurt that they didn't believe him.

But what hurt the most was that Yukio, his own brother, didn't believe him either. When he had looked at Rin, there wasn't exactly fear in his eyes. Fear, Rin could have handled. Fear stemmed from that which was understood; he could live with it if the only reason people were scared of him was because they didn't understand him. They didn't know him, but he could fix that with some time. But no, what was reflected in Yukio's eyes wasn't fear. It was something much worse.

Anger. Disappointment. Doubt. Resentment.

Rin had seen all those in Yukio's eyes, rolled into one. There had been so many emotions swirling in those eyes, it was a wonder how the younger twin had managed to hold them all in until that moment.

_How long has Yukio been feeling like that? How long has he bottled up all those feelings? From the start? From when Father Fujimoto started training him? All this time? Was everything a lie then? _Rin shook his head, trying to shake the cynical thoughts out. _I should have noticed. I should have realized how hard it was for him. But why didn't he say anything until now? What made him so angry that he snapped like that? _

Strangely, Rin wasn't made at Yukio. How could he blame him? Yukio had done everything he could to help him. Rin couldn't begrudge him the chance to get everything off his chest, when he'd kept it hidden like that for so long. Yukio was his little brother; he should be taking care of him, not the other way around! He could never hate his brother, even if his little brother hated him.

But that didn't make it hurt any less. It didn't make the pain in his chest any easier to bear.

If his own little brother wouldn't believe in him, then who would?

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><p>Yukio walked into the cram school classroom the next day, wondering if he'd see his brother. Rin hadn't come home last night. Yukio had done his best to wait for him, but eventually passed out into a restless sleep that had done more harm than good. He'd been so sure that Rin would come home in the middle of the night or something, but in the morning Rin's bed was still empty. Yukio'd had no choice but to go to school alone, and then work. He'd been distracted the whole day though, so he hadn't been of much use; only thinking about his brother.<p>

Yukio's eyes widened when he did, in fact, see Rin in his usual seat. Rin was staring out the window, with his head propped up by his fist and elbow. Yukio paused in front of him, trying to get his attention, but Rin pointedly ignored him.

Yukio stood there with his arms crossed even after the clock chimed, signaling for class to start. Everyone was in their seats, waiting for class to begin, but still Yukio stood there, and still Rin ignored him. Finally, Yukio couldn't take it anymore and he spoke angrily.

"You can't ignore me forever, nii-san."

Finally, Rin looked up. His face was blank, as if he were trying really hard to control his emotions, something Rin wasn't good at. His voice was polite, as a student addressing his teacher should be, but at the same time nonchalant. It really pissed Yukio off.

"Yes, Okumura-sensei?" Yukio's eyes widened, taken aback. Rin had never called him that before; he'd always said "Yukio!" or "Four-eyes!" It pissed him off even more.

"Don't just act like nothing happened! Where did you go last night?"

Rin looked away again and said "Class has started, Okumura-sensei. Shouldn't you get to teaching?" Yukio glared at Rin. If it weren't for their audience, he would be yelling right now. But he knew Rin was right, much as he hated admitting it to himself, so he turned around with a loud step and started class.

Rin stared out the window the entire time. Every time Yukio tried to catch his eye so they could communicate, there Rin was, obviously not looking in Yukio's direction on purpose.

At the end of class, the atmosphere was even tenser than before, if possible. Yukio's anger had only grown each time he had glanced at Rin, only to be ignored. He had always secretly hated being ignored, but maybe his brother had known that. His brother had always, always made sure to make time for him, had always paid attention to him no matter what.

Meanwhile, all the students were more than a little uncomfortable. They could swear that there was a black aura around Yukio. It had grown throughout the class period, which had been the single worst one yet, according to each and every student in the class. There had even been a pop quiz, and it had been _brutal, _even for one of the smartest students, Suguro.

As the clock chimed the new hour, the students all but ran out of the classroom. Rin bolted out of his seat too, until Yukio spoke firmly. "Okumura, I need to see you after class."

Rin froze. After a second he turned slowly, and walked with stiff shoulders hesitantly to Yukio's desk. When he spoke, his voice was cold.

"Yes, sensei, you asked to see me?" When Rin finally looked his brother in the eyes they were just as cold; instead of a calm, deep ocean, they were a stormy sky.

Yukio frowned, and addressed his brother. "What happened last night? Why didn't you come home?" Even though there were only two of them now, the tension seemed to grow even thicker in the room.

"Funny, it doesn't really feel like my home at all anymore." Rin snapped.

Yukio glared. "I'm sorry, nii-san. I shouldn't have taken out my anger out on you, and yelled at you. But what did you want me to do? You lost control. You can't deny that." Even though he was apologizing, it was a bit too harsh for Rin to take it seriously.

Rin glared right back. "Did you even think to ask me about what happened? Or did you just automatically accept what they told you?" Rin clenched his fists in anger.

Yukio sighed and said wearily "Fine, nii-san. What happened?"

Rin grit his teeth. "It doesn't even matter anymore. You obviously don't believe me, so why bother?" With that, Rin stalked out of the classroom, leaving a shocked and pissed off Yukio standing there alone.

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><p>Not knowing where else to go, Rin went back to his spot on the roof. With no Kuro again, Rin was completely alone with his thoughts once more. Which was not a good thing. One of the reasons Rin didn't think too hard about most things was that his mind tended to go to dark places when he did.<p>

Right now, the place Rin's mind went to was uncertainty. All Rin could think about was the what-ifs. What if he _had _lost control on that mission? What if he lost control on the next one? What if the Vatican decides he's too much of a liability? What if Yukio truly stops believing in him? What if his friends never talked to him again? What if he really does become a monster? What if they were all right about him?

Because Rin could feel it. Every time he unsheathed that sword and let his flames out, he was one step closer to that edge. The edge where if he fell over, he would truly stop being human. He'd be a demon in mind and body.

Rin shook his head. He really needed to think about something else. Worrying wasn't going to get him anywhere. Still, the heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't lessen any.

Rin really didn't want to spend another night out here alone in the cold, so he'd have to find someplace else to stay the night. Maybe longer. But where? Were there anyplace left in the dorms where Suguro, Shima, and Konekomaru lived? He didn't have any money for a motel, nor was he allowed to leave the campus alone. Not that Rin really cared about following the rules, but they'd probably be able to detect him leaving, and he'd be in a lot more trouble with everyone than was worth it. If any of his friends were talking to him, he'd ask to stay with them, but he wasn't on speaking terms with them, so thus he couldn't ask. Besides, he didn't want to be more of a burden than he already was.

Rin was just contemplating if he could somehow get a tent if he could somehow camp out on campus, when he heard footsteps. Without turning around, he knew who it was. They were twins, after all.

"What do _you _want?" Rin practically hissed. He watched as Yukio's shadow grew closer, until their shadows blended into one.

"Stop acting like a child. Come home." Yukio wasn't surprised at all to find his brother here; Rin had always liked high places. When he had realized Rin wasn't going to come back to their dorm again tonight, he'd decided to go looking. It had been the third place he'd looked.

"That place isn't my home." Rin said through gritted teeth. The only reason he'd endured the decrepit, barren, lonely, creepy building was because he had Yukio. But now he wasn't sure if he could count that. A home was a place filled with warmth, memories, and people that loved you. That place had none of those things.

"You're going to be living there as long as you're at this school; thus it's your home. Deal with it, and come home." Yukio's irritation grew more evident with every word.

"No." Rin crossed his arms like a child.

"Come _on, _nii-san, I don't have all day." Yukio snapped.

"No." Rin stuck his lower lip out slightly in a pout.

Yukio groaned. When Rin was like this, nothing you said made any difference. Rin would do whatever he was determined to do. There had been several times like this when they were children. The only one capable of talking Rin out of anything was Yukio, and even then he hadn't been able to stop Rin from doing _everything _he set his mind to. Rin was stubborn to the point of stupidity. But this time, he wasn't about to let his twin have his way.

Yukio stepped closer to Rin, and before the young demon knew it, he'd unbuttoned his shirt and was unwinding Rin's tail from its confines.

"What the hell?" Rin yelled. It was cold out, for Christ's sake! And Yukio was lifting up his shirt! What if someone just happened to look up here that wasn't supposed to, and they saw his tail? Rin began to struggle, but Yukio succeeded in freeing Rin's tail. And so he squeezed it…

"AAAAHHHH!" Rin screamed, and went limp. Yukio took advantage of his brother's temporary lack of motor skills, and picked him up and swung him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Rin yelled again, louder this time. He started flailing around, kicking his legs and punching Yukio's back. Even his tail got in on the action, and slapped Yukio in various places harshly. Yukio found it very irritating, so he pulled Rin's tail again. Rin went limp for a few seconds, like last time.

"Aaahhh! Don't do that!" Rin yelled, despite how he was blushing lightly. Pulling on his tail gave him a whole different feeling in his stomach, not to mention pain, and it wasn't a good thing.

"Are you going to be a good boy and come home?" Yukio smirked, just a little. It was rare to see his "big" brother like this, all flustered, and he found it highly amusing.]

"No." Rin huffed and crossed his arms again.

"Then I'm not letting you go." Yukio smiled. He carried Rin like that all the way to their room; whenever Rin would start struggling again, he'd tug on the black, fur tufted tail. Surprisingly, it was really soft, like a cat's.

Eventually Rin gave up after yelling at Yukio to put him down about twenty times. He just thanked god that there was no one around for them to see this. But even so, he found himself blushing deeply.

When they finally reached their room, Rin was very grateful; he wasn't grateful when Yukio held him until they were in front of his bed and the brunette threw him down roughly.

"OOF!" Rin grunted as he landed on his ass. He rubbed it for a second before looking up at Yukio, who was glaring at him intently. He gulped, then mentally slapped himself. _Yukio _was the one in the wrong, not him! He shouldn't be scared of his own little brother!

Rin glared right back, holding his own, and a staring contest of epic proportions began. Blue-green and cobalt eyes locked, and they held it for what seemed like forever. The twins had often done this when they'd had an argument as children. They did it to decide who was wrong and who was right; it was like having a telepathic conversation. Surprisingly, Rin was usually the winner of these staring contests (although, he usually was the one in the wrong). This one was no different.

Yukio looked away first and pinched the bridge of his nose. It made him look older, Rin thought briefly as he smirked triumphantly.

"Please explain the situation to me then, nii-san, how you ended up appearing to attack Shiemi, that little boy, and the rest of your classmates."

"I didn't attack them! I was in control! There were so many demons I let my flames run free. They were everywhere, in the bushes, the trees, and surrounding us! So when I finally got the chance to look around, I saw Shiemi running towards something I couldn't see. I followed her. She was trying to protect a little boy, and then this giant demon that totally blended in with the surroundings came after her. She didn't see it, so I killed it with my flames. Shiemi passed out then, and I went over there to help her, but Suguro, Shima, and Konekomaru stopped me. I guess they thought that with my flames all around me, I had finally snapped and was going to attack them. But I didn't! I kept any flames that got too close to them cool! I made sure no one got burned by the flames! They just misunderstood! I was fine!" Rin took a much needed breath.

Yukio thought about what Rin just said. It did seem plausible… According to what he'd been told, Rin hadn't _seemed _out of control or any different than he normally was, when some reinforcements had finally arrived. It anything, he'd been quiet, they'd said. And he saw nothing but the truth in his brother's eyes when he looked into the deep blue orbs. When he looked at them again, they shone brightly, as if they were determined to get him to believe them. Yukio decided to trust those eyes.

"All right. I believe you. It does seem to coincide with the report I read on the incident."

Rin smiled, showing off his long canines. "Aaand…" Rin sang. Yukio wasn't getting off the hook that easily.

Yukio gritted his teeth, but said it. "I'm sorry for ever doubting you, nii-san. You were right and I was wrong." It killed him to say it, but he knew he needed to. He had really hurt his brother's feelings, more than he'd initially thought, and if they were ever going to get past this, he needed to apologize. He needed Rin to forgive him. He should have realized Rin wouldn't go after Shiemi or an innocent child, no matter what.

Rin grinned from ear to ear. It was music to his pointed ears. Yukio _never _admitted he was wrong (because he never _was _wrong). He stood up, still grinning like an idiot, and headed for the door.

Yukio jumped out of his chair as if it had burned him and blocked Rin's path. "You know you can't escape, right? You're staying here, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah, yeah, chill out. I was going to the bathroom. I don't have anywhere else to go anyway." Yukio smiled, knowing it was the truth, and stepped aside.

When Rin got back he was immediately bowled over by a black blur.

"Rin! It's Rin! I missed you, Rin! You didn't come back! Why didn't you come back? I was just out looking for you! But I came back when I sensed your presence here!" Kuro mewled happily and began licking Rin's face as he greeted his master. Rin laughed and let Kuro do as he pleased. He'd missed the little fur ball. "So where did Rin go?"

"I went to the roof, and just stayed there all night." Rin answered the black cat, the sudden sound of Rin answering the unspoken question startling Yukio out of his work at his desk.

Yukio turned around from his chair at his desk and stared at Rin questioningly. Rin remembered that he was the only one that could understand Kuro. To everyone else, it was just a meowing like that of any other cat.

"Kuro asked me where I went last night when I was gone, and I told him." Yukio nodded and went back to grading papers. It has always been a little strange to him when Rin started talking to himself, although he was really talking to his cat. It had taken him a while to get used to hearing Rin start talking out of nowhere.

For the first time since Rin had left for that mission, Yukio relaxed. Whenever Rin was gone, or when he was on a mission himself, he just couldn't relax. He just felt too uneasy, wondering what his brother was up to and what trouble he could be causing. They had spent so much time together when they were younger, not to mention that they were twins, that he just didn't feel comfortable leaving his brother alone.

They'd never gone longer than a week without seeing each other.

It had been strange to be in the dorm room alone last night. He hadn't slept well, to say the least, with all of the tossing and turning. And now, it felt good to have his brother back- not that he showed it.

Rin smiled to himself. He had sensed how tense his brother had been in the classroom, on the roof, and even just a few minutes ago. But now, now that Rin had made it clear he was staying, Yukio was relaxing and he could tell. It made him happy to know that his little brother still needed him, even if just a little.

"So, what's for dinner?" Rin said as he rubbed Kuro's tummy. He was getting hungry, the last time he hadn't eaten since… well, the last time he'd been with Yukio, so… lunch, yesterday. Over twenty four hours. Wow, that long?

Yukio froze. He'd completely forgotten! He had planned to try and make dinner as an apology. And he had nothing prepared, nor any idea of what to make!

"Uh, Yukio? Does that mean you want me to make something?" Yukio snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his brother's voice, and found the young half-demon's face inches from his. _When did that happen? _Yukio's eyes widened before he answered.

"Uh, no. Actually, I was going to try to cook tonight."His brother's incredulous, shocked, and suspicious expression did not help matters. It actually pissed him off a little.

Yukio didn't like the thought of his twin brother being so much better than him at something, so he'd attempted to learn shortly after Rin's cooking talent had blossomed. Needless to say, he was not like his brother in that aspect at all. There had been many burned, destroyed, and just plain inedible dishes that Yukio had ended up with. No matter how many pointers his brother had given him, Yukio just didn't have the talent for cooking. Rin did, and he was as good as chef now.

"Ummm… I don't know about that… Are you sure?" Rin said hesitantly. Yukio cooking was NOT a good idea if you valued your stomach and keeping food in it. Rest assured that if you ate Yukio's food it WOULD come back up.

"Yes. Just stay here and do your homework while I cook dinner." Yukio smiled and walked out of the room.

Once Yukio was safely out of earshot Rin groaned loudly. There was no way he was getting out of this one. Why did Yukio decide to do this all of a sudden? Wasn't being yelled at and being forced to sleep outside enough of a punishment?

"What's wrong, Rin? Why do you look so scared?" Kuro asked, sensing Rin's distress and seeing the sweat on his brow. He was still on top of Rin, who had flopped on his bed.

"Oh, nothing, Kuro. You're just going to wish that you were a normal cat tonight that DID eat cat food."

* * *

><p>Rin looked at the clock on his phone for what must have been the thousandth time. Yukio had been in the kitchen for almost an hour. He fidgeted in his seat at his desk, restless. What was taking Yukio so long? What kind of meal could he be preparing? Would it be edible?<p>

Memories of Yukio attempting to cook when they were kids were brought back with almost perfect clarity. Rin could almost taste the burnt tempura on his tongue, and shuddered. He could only hope that Yukio's cooking had improved with time, somehow. He opened his phone again, just one more time. Two minutes had passed.

_Gaaah! I can't take this anymore! _Rin stood up, knocking down Kuro from his lap (who huffed and went to curl up on Rin's bed), and ran downstairs to the kitchen. He peeked over the corner that lead into the vast room, not wanting Yukio to see him or else he'd freak, and what he saw almost made his jaw drop.

The kitchen… The kitchen… His kitchen… was a complete and utter mess. There was a mysterious brown liquid on the floor. There was gunk on the counters. There were bowls strewn all over, some tipped to fall on the floor, with various colors of sludge. It looked like a tornado had passed through.

Yukio seemed oblivious to the chaos. He stood with his back to Rin, chopping something, by the sound of it. Rin took a cautious step further into the room and saw that Yukio was covered in the same brown gunk as the counters that must be… sauce? He took one look at Yukio and burst out laughing. It was just so hilarious to see the oh so serious Yukio trying to cook and ending up covered in food. Rin couldn't remember the last time he had seen Yukio concentrating so much; everything seemed to come to him so naturally. His face was so serious…

Yukio stiffened when he heard Rin laughing. "Nii-san, I told you not to come down here." Yukio turned and glared at him. Rin was practically rolling on the floor with laughter now. Apparently, Yukio didn't know he had sauce on his cheek and his shirt. Rin took another look and started howling with laughter.

"May I ask what's so funny?" Yukio asked, resisting the urge to blush for some reason and punch his brother at the same time.

"S-sa-sauce… hahahaha… on… haha… y-your… f-fa-face… hahahahahaha!" Rin barely managed to choke out between fits of laughter. Seeing the normally stoic and serious Yukio with sauce on his cheek was just too much. It reminded him of when they were little kids. Yukio had been a bit of a messy eater, and being the big brother, Rin had to clean him up.

Yukio immediately brought his hand to his face to wipe off the offending substance, but didn't realize he has sauce on his fingers as well. He only succeeded in adding more to the mess. Rin cackled even louder, and tears streamed down his face.

"Nii-san!" Yukio blushed despite how hard he tried, annoyed at his brother's antics. Why the hell was he laughing at him like that? "Will you stop laughing for one second to tell me what you are doing here?"

It took almost ten minutes, but Rin finally managed to catch his breath and stand up. He wiped the tears from his eyes as he went over to Yukio and leaned in real close, until their noses were almost touching. Confused, Yukio didn't move. To his surprise, Rin leaned in even closer, and licked his cheek, lapping up all the sauce.

"Nii-san! What the hell are you doing?" Yukio yelled, and he couldn't stop the blush from rising to his cheeks. It was a very intimate action, one that Rin had done once or twice before when they were just kids, but now that they were older… it was embarrassing.

"Cleaning you up. Hmm, needs more spices, it's kinda bland." Rin commented, as if this were something perfectly normal.

"But… But did you have to lick me?" Yukio asked, a little dumbfounded.

"I dunno… You just looked so cute with sauce all over your cheek it reminded me of when you were kids. So I cleaned you up how I used to." Rin shrugged.

Yukio thought he felt his cheeks grow hotter. It didn't help that Rin saw, and was now chuckling. Only his brother would think that way, to lick his own chin. "Well, we aren't children anymore."

"So? You're still my little brother. Age doesn't change anything." Rin pouted defiantly. He didn't see what the problem was. What's the big deal? It was just the two of them. He had done it when they were younger, and Yukio hadn't batted an eyelash then. Although, he couldn't remember how long ago… "Are you seriously mad about it?"

"Well, no… It's just… odd for a teenager to lick his own twin. And embarrassing. I'm hardly your cute little brother anymore." Yukio pushed his glassed up higher on his noise, his cheeks still a little pink.

"Whatever. Like I care what people think. You'll ALWAYS be my cute little brother to me." Rin smirked before finally taking a step back. He hadn't realized until he could feel the heat from Yukio's cheeks that he was still invading Yukio's personal space. "So, just out of curiosity, what were you trying to make?"

"…Sukiyaki." Yukio replied, avoiding Rin's eyes, embarrassed some more. He instead inspected the counters. _Wow, did I really make that big a mess? Ugh._

"Are you serious? This," Rin pointed to the horribly maimed pieces of meat on the cutting board, "is supposed to be sukiyaki?" Much to Yukio's annoyance, Rin burst out laughing again. He held his stomach, it hurt so much from laughing so hard.

"Oh, shut up." Yukio ground out, trying to force the pinkness he knew was on his cheeks away, all to no avail. "Just let me finish this up so we can eat already." Yukio went to the counter and picked up the knife again while Rin wiped his tears for the second time. He watched the brunette's pathetic attempts to get it in the right shape for about a minute before he could stand it no longer.

"Gah! I can't watch this anymore! MOVE!" Rin shouted as he pushed Yukio out of the way and grabbed the knife out of the exorcist's hands. Yukio frowned, but watched Rin as he cut up the meat and prepared the rest of the dinner, analyzing his every move. Rin didn't fail to notice, and decided to take advantage of the situation.

"Here, let me show you." Rin walked Yukio through every movement, through every slice the knife made and every ingredient that went into the sauce Rin was re-making. He expertly cut the meat in just the right way, and mixed the ingredients just so. He even went so far as to put the knife in Yukio's hands and guide him through it, by putting his hands over the brunette's; just like how a guy usually teaches a girl something, but not like Rin mentioned that… much.

By the end of the lesson, Yukio could chop the meat correctly and both twins were sporting wide smiles. It had been so long since they'd just hung out together. Since they'd felt the warmth and comfort of having their other half right beside them, with no worries. And they'd never cooked together like this before. It was fun, and they both vowed to do it again sometime soon.

Well, Rin said "You know, Yukio," as they sat down at the table to eat the dinner they'd made together, "now that I've taught you a few things, I expect you to help me out more often in the kitchen…and I think you should call me sensei." Rin smirked, knowing Yukio wouldn't refuse.

Yukio sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Thanks so much, nii-san… or should I say, Okumura sensei." He said it sarcastically, but a small smile formed on his lips. Rin chuckled and dug in. The meal was good, and the cold dorm was filled with laughter. It hadn't been so for a long time, nor would it continue to be.

Rin knew that, but he allowed himself to just enjoy the moment while it lasted.

* * *

><p><strong>Ummm... So how was it? Was it okay? Did it live up to your expectations? Ugh, I'm so nervous now... You guys totally spoiled me with the number of reviews I received for the last chapter! I was surprised by how many I got! Thanks! So I'll be sad if I don't get around the same amount... So, should I keep writing this? I have a few chapters already prewritten, I just need to type them up, but should I keep writing in my notebook? If this does continue to the end that I envisioned, it'll probably be a pretty long fic, but if there's not enought love, I can end it early. Let me know if I should finish this! Let me know what you think! Please review! Please please please review! I would really appreciate it! I would love you forever and give you a million thank yous. And who doesn't want my love,lol? <strong>


	3. Falsely Simple Answers

**You know, my favorite part of a poptart are the edges. They're so much better than the middle. So anyway, here's the next chapter. I know, I said it's prewritten, and that would usually mean that it shouldn't take this long to get a chapter out, but I was lazy. I need a lot of motivation to sit down and type for a couple hours. **

**It's pretty fluffy at first. But then… well, you'll see. I was gonna put more detail into the classroom scene at first, but I just couldn't think of anything funny enough that would make Yukio laugh… So you'll just have to use your imagination. I figured it'd be better than having something totally lame and stupid that seemed forced… **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except- Oh, wait, don't own that either. Damn.**

* * *

><p><strong>Falsely simple answers to surprisingly difficult questions<strong>

The clock chimed, signaling for class to start. Yukio took his place in front of the class, and began to teach. He noticed that his brother sat in the front row today; Shiemi wasn't there, so he had no one to sit next to. Izumo was absent too. Yukio found it a little odd that Rin sat up front in the desk that was closest to his, but didn't say anything.

He read aloud to the class from a textbook, walking around the classroom a little every now and then. When he ended up back in front of his desk and looked up, he immediately regretted it. Rin's desk was in front of his, and let's just say even though he looked completely normal, what he was thinking was NOT. Yukio frowned at his twin, but kept on reading. Then when he stumbled upon that word again, Rin did THAT again, and he glared at him. Rin didn't seem to be bothered; he just stayed with his cheek resting in his palm, in a thinking pose. Yukio sighed, and tried to concentrate on teaching.

Yukio went to the board and began to draw a diagram, but as soon as he grabbed the chalk, Rin did it again. This time, Yukio couldn't help his lips quirking upward, just a little bit. Rin knew this, and did IT once more. Yukio tried to force the smile away, but his lips curved up even more. He continued drawing, glad his back was to the class, but when Rin did it again, a smile snuck its way onto his face. He found himself trying to hold back laughter, and he was even more grateful the class couldn't see it.

_I'm going to kill him! _But still, he couldn't make the snicker that escaped his curved lips go away. _I won't laugh. I won't laugh. I refuse to laugh!_

Seeing Yukio snicker gave Rin confidence. He did it again, but his expression didn't change. He didn't want to betray what he was thinking. This was too much fun. And in order for it to work, he'd have to keep concentrating really hard.

Yukio stopped drawing and covered his mouth. He would NOT laugh. He took a deep breath. Rin smirked. _Just one more little push…_

The last image did it. Yukio burst out laughing. He laughed so hard. He dropped the chalk. He laughed so hard he held his stomach. He laughed so hard tears formed in the corners of his eyes and threatened to fall if he didn't hold them back.

Rin smirked. His plan was a success. He chuckled himself. All the other students in the class stared at their sensei, their jaws all but on the floor. _What the hell? _They all thought. Had their sensei gone crazy? The normally stoic and stiff and (sometimes falsely) polite Okumura Yukio was laughing! Out of nowhere, for no apparent reason!

"O-Okumura-sensei?" Suguro asked, confused.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" Shima sounded just as confused as Suguro. But Yukio was still trying to stop laughing, unsuccessfully, and now Rin was laughing too. Everyone looked at Rin now. What the hell was wrong with the two Okumura's?

"Hey, do you hear what I hear?" Suguro turned to Shima and Konekomaru. When they only shot him confused glances, he sighed. It was SO obvious to him. "Okumura-sensei and Okumura sound exactly the same when they laugh like that." He exclaimed.

Konekomaru and Shima listened. "Whoa, you're right! It sounds like only one person's laughing! That's so weird." Konekomaru commented.

Finally, after a few more minutes of laughing, chuckling, and wiping of tears in the corner of their eyes, Rin and Yukio calmed down. When Yukio was finally able to catch his breath, he turned and glared at his older brother. "Nii-san! That wasn't funny! Don't ever do that again! There's only a few minutes of class left and I didn't get through everything I needed to!"

Rin smirked. "I'm pretty sure by the way you were rolling on the floor with laughter just now that it was pretty funny. And it's not my fault you lost control."

"Yes it is! You know it's easier for you to do that than me. And you know…"

"Oh, come on, you needed a good laugh!"

"Just don't do it ever again!"

"Okay, what the heck's going on? What did Okumura do?" Suguro stepped up and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Oh, nothing that concerns you. I'm sorry for… being distracted." Yukio glared pointedly at his twin. Rin whistled nonchalantly. He was innocent in his own mind.

"Come on sensei, what happened? Tell us!" Shima stepped next to Suguro excitedly.

"Really, it was nothing." Bon narrowed his eyes. He HATED when people kept things from him. And right now, he could tell that their sensei was definitely hiding something.

"We have a right to know why our teacher couldn't teach us." He smirked because he knew he was right, and that Yukio had no choice but to take the bait.

Yukio sighed. He knew Suguro would never let this go. "Alright, if you must know… Okumura and I, being twins, can communicate telepathically, if you will. Basically, if we concentrate hard enough, we can share thoughts, images, or feelings with each other."

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Shima shouted. "I've never met twins before! So, what was Rin doing? Was it something naughty?"

"I was just showing Yukio something really funny." Rin said as he bounced over to the group.

"What was it, what was it?" Shima asked, even more excited than before at the prospect of something hilarious, or some dirt on the Okumura's.

"Ha ha, nothing you need to know. It was an inside joke anyway."

"Hey, can you guys do anything else? Like, know if the other twin's in trouble?" Suguro asked, curious.

"Yup!" Rin smiled. He was happy that his friends were actually talking to him normally for once. It was the first time in a while that they weren't trying to defend themselves from him. So he'd talk about whatever they wanted to talk about.

"What about if the other gets hurt, the other twin feels it?"

"Yes, usually." Yukio nodded as Rin moved next to him. That was one of the reasons he hated it when Rin used to get into fights: he felt the hits that Rin took too. Sure, they were dulled and not as bad as if he had actually been the one being hit, but it still hurt a little and was REALLY annoying when you were trying to do homework and your face kept throbbing from a non-existent punch.

"Oh, can you guys finish each other sentences?"

"Yes-" "-We can."

"Cool! Do it again!" Shima laughed.

"Umm, we're not-" "-sure what you-" "-want us-" "-to say."

"That's freaky! I know, can you guys talk at the same time? Like, as one person?"

"Of course we can." They said together.

"What else can you guys do" Konekomaru asked, also curious.

"Well, we have-" "-our own language."

"Oooh! Show me!" Suguro rolled his eyes at Shima's excitement, but was secretly interested in it too.

"Mo za tokun moska nagats?" "Shotsa don." ("Why do you think they're so interested in us being twins all of a sudden?") ("I have no idea.")

"Man, that's insane! You guys are like, totally in sync! I didn't know that stuff was actually possible!" Shima exclaimed, eyes wide.

In all actuality, there was no secret language the Okumura twins had created. It was just total gibberish. They were really just reading each other's thoughts by looking into each other's eyes or listening closely to the inflection in their voice. Occasionally it was like speaking telepathically thought, if both of them were concentrating hard enough.

"You guys should do it more often. Why don't you?" Shima asked.

"Cuz Yukio's embarrassed!" Rin laughed and patted his twin on the back, who rolled his eyes.

"You know it's mainly because it started freaking people out after a while. They said it was creepy; that we were too close for siblings, or even twins. They said it was too weird, and told us not to do it anymore."

"Really, that's hard to believe. I can't imagine you guys being like that now." Suguro chimed in.

"Yeah, we couldn't be separated when we were younger. We wouldn't let anyone take us away from the other." Rin said, chuckling a little at the memories it brought back.

"Don't say that, nii-san. It sounds weird…" Yukio frowned.

"But it's true! Remember how you used to cry every day when we went to separate classes in kindergarten? And how you had that total freak-out when dad tried to put us in separate rooms in first grade?" Rin laughed.

Yuko glared back and pushed his glasses up higher. "Yes, and do you remember calling me almost in tears when I went on my first class trip because you missed me so much?"

"Do YOU remember sneaking into my bed almost every night while we were kids?" Rin shot back, blushing a little.

Yukio's cheeks were a little pinker as well. "Do YOU remember me finding you half in tears after you found out I'd be going to True Cross and moving to the doors." Yukio replied, smirking.

Rin blushed harder. "I was not! And do you remember saying 'I'm so glad! Now we won't have to be apart, Nii-san' after finding out I'd be going here too?"

The trio watched the twins banter back and forth. They were being completely ignored now and no longer in the conversation, but it was still entertaining as hell. The three of them snickered at the embarrassing comments one twin made about the other.

"Do YOU remember saying a few weeks ago 'Yukio! Don't go on any more overnight missions! It's too much trouble trying to sleep without you'"

Rin's whole face grew red. "Hey! You haven't taken any since then, so must agree!" Yukio's cheeks grew a little more pink, which was all the proof Rin needed. "And how about just last month when it was raining and you had a nightmare because of the thunder? You woke up screaming 'Nii-san!' and reached out for me like a little kid!"

Yukio glared to try and hide his embarrassment, but he felt his cheeks get hot. "Oh yeah? Remember how just last night you had a nightmare about-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Rin yelled, his face red.

"C-" Rin clamped his hand down on Yukio's mouth just in time to stop him from finishing that word. They glared at each other for several seconds, until they seemingly came to an understanding. Rin removed his hand and Yukio coughed, just now remembering that they still weren't alone in the classroom.

"I apologize for all this… So as you can see, we really are twins." Yukio said.

"Man, you guys can do everything!" Shima laughed again.

"Pretty much. We've never met another pair of twins that could do the things we could do." The Okumura twins said together.

"You guys are a lot closer than we thought you were." Konekomaru smiled. It was nice to their teacher, who was actually the same age as his students, act like a teenager for once. It humanized him.

"You're not that different after all, huh?" Bon nodded, agreeing with Konekomaru.

The twins shrugged simultaneously. It was true, they supposed. In class Yukio tried to be impartial and treat Rin like any other student, and that was the only time the trio had seen the twins interact, for the most part. Although Yukio did his best to not treat Rin differently, he was more harsh with him, and wasn't afraid to call him an idiot when he got the answer wrong to a simple question. This was the first time they had seen the Okumura's act like… brothers. Twins, for that matter. It was quite an eye-opening experience for the three of them. Maybe they weren't total opposites, they thought.

Rin leaned against Yukio slightly, as he grew a little uncomfortable with the stares at aimed at him and Yukio. Yukio immediately moved his body to accommodate Rin's, as he had countless times before. It was something they did unconsciously, with no thought to the action.

The clock chimed, and class was officially done. Yukio sighed, thinking _I've failed as a teacher. _He felt Rin's hand on his shoulder, patting it comfortingly, saying _No you didn't. It's okay. _Yukio smiled at Rin, before he remembered, HE was the cause of all this in the first place.

The trio didn't fail to see all this, and smiled to themselves. They gathered their things and said bye to the Okumura's. Before walking out the door, Shima turned around and said "You know, if you guys did things like that more often, I' d probably pay more attention in class!" Rin laughed and Yuko sighed, unsure of exactly how to take that.

Rin waited while Yukio got everything he needed, so they could go home together. He could just use a key and go home alone, but he was feeling a little nostalgic after having all those memories brought back up.

Yukio seemed a little surprised that Rin had waited for him, but shrugged. He guessed it was that his twin was lost in old memories, and he was right. To be honest, he was too. "Ready to go, Nii-san?"

"Of course! I was the one waiting for YOU!" Rin jumped off the desk he had been sitting on top of, and followed Yukio out the door.

"… Clowns." Yukio finally finished his sentence from before as they walked.

"STUPID FOUR EYES!"

* * *

><p>"Nii-san, I have a mission I'm leaving for tomorrow." Yukio said as he walked through the door of his dorm room. Rin's face fell slightly from the textbook he had opened. Contrary to popular belief, he did study. Sometimes. Okay, it was only recently that he has started making any effort whatsoever.<p>

Yukio, of course, noticed. "Don't worry, you're coming with me. I can't leave you alone for that long."

"I- I'm not worried! What are you talking about?" Rin yelled from his desk.

"Tomorrow morning we leave to go on a mission in Hokkaido. The Vatican doesn't want me leaving you alone for that long, so as your official care-taker, you're coming along with me. Well, we're short on exorcists too. So a couple of other ex-wires from the class might come too." He saw Rin's grin that took up more than half his face and wanted to groan. Rin was excited. Nothing good ever came out of an excited Rin.

"Oh yeah! Now I can finally show off my skills!" Rin threw a fist in the air excitedly.

"Hmm? What skills?" Yukio smiled as he took off his exorcist coat. It was getting heavy.

"Shut up, four-eyed mole-face!" Rin shouted.

"_**Will you guys be quiet? I'm trying to sleep!" **_Kuro yelled from his spot on Rin's lap. Of course, only Rin heard this. To Yukio, Kuro just meowed loudly.

"What did he say?" Yukio asked, curious.

"He said to shut up; he's trying to take a nap. So shut it, Yukio, you're annoying him." Rin translated, adding his own bit at the end.

Yukio rolled his eyes. True, he couldn't understand Kuro. The cat was attached to his brother like glue. But even he knew that Rin had paraphrased.

A thought occurred to Kuro, and he opened his eyes wide. "_**Wait, you're not going to get mad and leave again, are you, Rin? Don't leave, Rin!"**_

"Don't worry," Rin laughed.

Yukio turned around. He saw Kuro staring up at Rin, his little eyebrows scrunched up in worry. It was still a little odd to hear his brother talk to someone that wasn't there, or so it appeared. It startled him occasionally.

"I'll never leave, Kuro. I'll always be here."

* * *

><p>The mission was simple: Destroy all demons in the area they were assigned to in Hokkaido without harming civilians, and minimal casualties of their forces. For an unknown reason, Hokkaido was being overrun by demons, and it was affecting normal people's lives. There would be other teams of exorcists assigned to other parts of Hokkaido, with the same mission.<p>

Yukio was the leader of his team, which consisted of Rin, Suguro, and two other exorcists he had never met before. Kuro was coming with them, as he absolutely refused to be separated from Rin this time. Remembering what happened the last time Kuro went berserk, the Academy obliged, afraid of pissing Kuro off too much.

The amount of demons in Assiah had swelled to numbers never seen before. Exorcists were in high demand, but few in number. Thus the Pages were now going on missions with full-fledged exorcists if there was no other choice. As Hokkaido didn't have anything like True Cross Academy, they'd had no defense when the demons had first started arriving from Gehenna, and now they were completely overrun. Many had lost their lives. They had no choice but to rely on anyone True Cross could send.

So that was how Rin found himself in the middle of another damn forest, killing more damn demons. It gave him flashbacks of last time, and that really pissed him off. He slashed and hacked, but like last time, they were a seemingly endless supply. Also like last time, there wasn't much of a plan, and no reinforcements. They _were _the reinforcements; there were no more exorcists to spare at all.

Another thing that reminded Rin of his last mission was how the demons spoke to him in their raspy, rough, and downright creepy voices.

"Young Prince!"

"Why do you do this?"

"Let us go back to Gehenna, Young Prince!"

"Why do you rebel?"

"These humans should mean nothing to you!"

"It is not befitting a Prince to associate with humans; much less exorcists!"

"Why don't you kill these pathetic humans, my Young Prince?"

Their horrible voices created a cacophony of noise that invaded his brain. Like bees; their voices bounced around in his head, drowning out anything else. It was hard to think, they were so loud.

He didn't notice the two Dragoons, Maki and Toramaru, standing in front of Suguro, shooting any demons that drew near. Suguro chanted the death verses of as many demons as possible. He didn't notice Yukio a few yards away, shooting demons down with precision.

There was only the voices in his head, buzzing and bouncing around.

"Shut up!" Rin hissed as he stabbed a demon. He spun around and decapitated another one that was saying something like "My Prince, your father-" But it didn't finish.

"Shut up!" Rin yelled now. Those voices were driving him crazy. It was worse than ever before with his sword unsheathed. _Go away! Make them go away!_

Hearing that, Yukio risked a glance at his brother. Worried, he guessed that the demons were speaking. Of what, he could only guess. The demons were speaking the language of Gehenna, and only demons could understand it.

"Nii-san." Yukio said with concern as he fired his gun at another demon.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Rin said casually as he killed one more demon and its blood splattered on him. He began the process of moving across the forest, cutting down demons in his path, so he could look for Suguro. He hadn't seen him since they got here, and was a little worried.

After a couple minutes, he spotted Suguro about five yards away, still chanting death verses. The only difference was one of the exorcists lay on the ground, dead. Both Suguro and the remaining exorcist, Maki, looked weary and defeated. Toramaru's death weighed heavily on their shoulders, it looked like.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rin saw something small and brown move. He quickly turned to see the same little boy from last time running straight at Suguro. Or something behind Suguro. Rin followed the child's gaze and saw a man with red hair in odd spikes, dressed all in weird red clothing. _No, not man, _Rin quickly realized, _demon. _A high-level demon, if it can possess someone. The red demon raised its arm, and it started to glow. With a small flash, a ball of what must be energy appeared in his hand. The demon rolled his arm back, like a pitcher, aiming it at Suguro and Maki.

_He's gonna throw it. _Rin didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't good. He willed all the energy in his legs to move faster. _Run! Faster! I need to get there in time! RUN! I gotta stop it! _

All of this happened in the span of about ten seconds, and by now the little boy was almost to the point where Suguro and Maki were, who still hadn't noticed the demon behind them. He seemed to be running towards the demon.

_Please let me make it in time._

And he did make it in time, thank god. Just in time to take that ball of energy to his chest. Through his heart, to be exact. The red demon's arm ran straight through his chest, coming out through his back. As he was about to pull it out, thinking Rin was dead, Rin grabbed his arm tightly, stopping the demon's action.

Black spots were appearing in his vision, but he raised his sword anyway. He rammed it into the red demon's chest, in retaliation in the blink of an eye; the demon too stunned that Rin was actually alive to react. He concentrated all his power, every last little bit of it, all of his waning life force, and into that sword.

But he _barely_ heard that demon's screams as it went up in blue flames. He barely heard a garbled "Bro-" and then a thud.

He barely felt himself fall to the ground when the red demon's hands suddenly disappeared from his chest as it was turned to ash from the blue flames.

He barely felt the ground beneath him becoming wet with blood, staining everything in sight.

He barely heard his brother's cries of "Nii-san! Nii-san!"

He _didn't _hear Suguro yelling "Okumura? What the-"

He didn't hear the little boy's screams of terror.

Everything just felt so… distant. It was all far away; in another time and place. The only thing he could see beside the blackness was _blue. _Blue flames. The only thing he could hear was his slowing heartbeat. The only thing he could feel with perfect clarity was his strength leaving him and an iciness replacing it in his veins.

_Going… going… gone._

The black overtakes the blue, and that's all there is.

* * *

><p>'<em>Tsk tsk, my son. You let yourself be killed too easily.'<em>

_Huh? What's going on? Am I… dead? What… what was I just doing right now? I can't remember._

'_Unfortunately, yes, you are. Pathetic, really. One of MY own sons being killed… But you haven't reached your full potential yet. I can help with that.'_

The voice… inside Rin's head?... boomed loudly. Almost painfully.

'_I can help you. If you'll let me. You need to take care of your little brother, right? You can't leave him all alone; you're all he has left. You need to protect him. Isn't that the job of the big brother?'_

… _What's in it for you, you old bastard?_

'_I'm helping myself by helping you. That's all. Besides, what kind of father would I be if I didn't help my precious son in his time of need? Now I'll ask but one more time: Do you want to live?_

* * *

><p><strong>Typing this after just painting your nails probably isn't a good idea, especially while eating a poptart, but oh well. Oh yeah, before I forget, twins can't actually do that stuff. I just made most of it up. My justification is that because they're sons of Satan, their psychic connection is a lot stronger than normal humans. So their abilities are because they do technically have demon blood in them, and Satan's no less. That accounts for a lot. <strong>

**How was it? Did it suck as much as I think it did? Either way, please review! I really want to know your thoughts. I'd really appreciate it and I'd love you forever! So please please please please review! I need motivation to type up the rest of the chapters! Gimme some motivation! I got half the amount of reviews for the last chapter than I did the first one… You guys really did spoil me that first time. Could you do it again, pretty please? **


	4. Sora

**After a long hiatus, that is now over, here is the latest chapter. It's a SUPER long chapter to make up for my absence. I was originally going to keep stalling a lot longer, maybe even give up on it, but a couple things inspired me. One was this author ranting about Okumuracest and yaoi in general, calling people who like it sick disgusting bastards, and how it shouldn't exist and blah blah blah. I immediately stopped reading her story, even though before that it hadn't been half bad. After that I started writing a little again, hoping to prove what a sick disgusting bastard like myself can do with her writing. So what if I have less than a tenth of her reviews. Take this, bitch. Twincest is WINcest. Anyway, the second thing that inspired me was an amazing review that warmed the cockles of my heart from Elroye. Thank you so very much, you're partly to blame for this chapter! :D This is for you! Are you still keeping watch, lol? That being said though, I think it sucks. Everyone's so OOC… Well, scroll down a little and see for yourself. **

**Disclaimer: Everyone's OOC, so it's obvious I don't own Blue Exorcist.**

* * *

><p>The sound of the hear-rate monitor flat-lining filled the small, dim, plain white hospital room. It wasn't very loud, but in the otherwise silent room it was like having a train, a rock concert, and blowhorn all at the same time in one room. The significance of the noise didn't help either.<p>

It was a heart stopping. It was a life ending. It was a goodbye without words. It was the agony of so many people. All from just one little tone.

Well, for most people it was.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Okumura Rin became aware of his own consciousness. It came to him in waves. Then, he became aware of sensation. The very first thing that he felt was _pain. _All over. But worst of all, was that his chest- it felt like he was on _fire. _It burned, ached, stung, and throbbed all at once, but most prominent of all was the burning. It felt hot; too, too hot.

He tried to move, to get away from the burning, the fire, but he couldn't move. At all. It was like his body was weighed down. He couldn't even attempt to lift a finger, it was so heavy. It was then that he heard the heart monitor; with a pop of his ears he could hear things again. He hadn't even realized that his hearing had been somehow impaired before, he'd been so concentrated on the pain.

_What is that? Make it stop. Make it stop! It's too loud! _ Rin wanted to cover his ears, but he couldn't, because he still couldn't move. And the burning… the burning was only getting worse. It doubled. Tripled. Quadrupled. Again. Again. Again. Again and again and again until-

With a gasp, Rin shot up, trying to get air in his lungs, but they weren't working, and he sputtered and tried and tried and everything was too bright on his suddenly open eyes and-

"Nii-san! Nii-san! Calm down! Lay back down!" suddenly, Yukio was at his side, trying to calm him down by squeezing his hand and rubbing his back soothingly. Rin looked back up at his twin, fear and confusion clear in those deep blue eyes, and tried to take in air again. He was gasping, but this time it felt like some actually got in his lungs, allowing him to breathe.

"It's okay, nii-san. Relax. I'm guessing your organs are slowly coming back online one at a time, so don't rush things. It'll all come back." As if confirming his suspicions, the monitor beeped once, then again, and again at a rapidly increasing pace until it was that of a racing heart. There was a sharp, crippling pain so intense Rin wanted to cry out in his chest, making him lose some of the much needed oxygen. Apparently, Rin's heart was back and beating with a vengeance. Lucky him.

If he thought about it, he would think how odd it was, coming back to life like this. He was hyperaware of every little thing his body did, from each breath to every heartbeat, and how he could move now.

Yukio watched his brother very closely. Rin appeared disoriented; his deep blue eyes unfocused and flitting everywhere. They blinked rapidly, trying to focus. His heart was beating away, which he was happy about, but it was beating way, way too fast. Especially considering how not even two minutes ago it hadn't been beating at all. Rin was pale, sickeningly so. His skin was cold to the touch. Frankly, he looked like he was still dead. He was shaking, as if he felt as cold as skin was. His breathing was still erratic, his lungs still getting used to taking oxygen in so suddenly.

"Nii-san, you need to relax." When there was no answer, Yukio started to grow worried. "Nii-san? Look at me." Nothing. "Can you hear me?" Still nothing. Rin gave no indication that he could make sense of what was happening around him. "Come on, nii-san. Talk to me!" Going into doctor mode, Yukio grabbed some instruments form his bag and started checking Rin over. He shined a light into the deep blue eyes, and they seemed to respond to it and not as erratic. The pulse was still too fast, as was his breathing. All his injuries seemed to be almost healed, no change there.

"Nii-san, it's me, Yukio. Can you understand what's going on?" At the word 'Yukio' Rin's head turned to look at his twin. His eyes seemed a little glazed over, but this time they held a hint of recognition. "Nii-san… Yes, that's right, I'm Yukio, your twin brother." Rin stared, and as he did so, his breathing slowly started to stabilize to something more normal.

Seeing how disoriented Rin was Yukio started to grow worried. "Nii-san, do you remember who I am? Who you are?" Rin stared blankly. "You're Rin, and I'm Yukio. Do you remember that much?" At Yukio's name, Rin's eyes opened a little wider. Yukio saw this, and decided to use it. "Yukio, your little brother." He pointed at himself. "Yukio, Yukio, Yukio, Yukio, Yukio." He repeated his own name over and over, and each time Rin's eyes grew a little less cloudy and more focused.

Until finally, they looked at Yukio, _really _looked at him. As if he were seeing him for the first time, almost. Rin opened his mouth and by the way his lips moved, he was saying Yukio's name. except, nothing came out. Rin opened his mouth and tried again, only to have the same thing happen: nothing.

"Rin, are you aware of what's going on now?" Yukio asked. Rin's eyes were almost back to normal, but they still held a whole lot of confusion and a little bit dull. It was probably fatigue. After thinking about for a whole minute, Rin nodded. Yukio found it a little odd that the thing that triggered Rin's memory and brought him back to reality was his own name, Yukio, but didn't think about it too much. He didn't really mind that fact, and there were more important things to think about.

"Hm. I guess your brain needed some time to come alive as well. That might explain why at first you were unresponsive and disoriented, and couldn't remember anything. The rest of your body may need to do the same thing, including your throat. That's probably why you can't talk right now." Yukio concluded. Rin slowly nodded, still kind of looking like he didn't understand it all, or he wasn't quite all there yet. But it was something.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a man in a white lab coat stepped in, followed by a nurse. It was one of the doctors that were associated with the Knights of the True Cross. They stopped in front of Rin's bed and stared at him with shocked expressions on their faces, like they couldn't believe he was actually alive.

"He's… he's awake… he's _alive." _ The doctor said, not bothering to hide his utter disbelief. The nurse looked the same. Yukio cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"I know it's hard to believe, but despite what you originally thought, he did survive. Like I said he would. So let's keep it that way, and get a full check-up to make sure he's alright." The doctor nodded.

"Okay, let's start with a physical examination." The doctor went to Rin's bedside and pulled out his stethoscope. Suddenly, Rin got a very bad feeling from that man. A feeling in his gut told him NOT to let that man near him; that he was dangerous. Rin backed away from the doctor as he could while still staying in the hospital bed.

Yukio frowned. "Come on, nii-san. He needs to get a look at you." Rin shook his head, and then suddenly started coughing violently. The doctor tried to get a better look at Rin, but he backed away even more, until he was almost falling off the bed. The look he gave the doctor clearly said _get away from me._

"Nii-san!" Yukio rushed to Rin's side. After another moment or so, Rin stopped. He opened his mouth to try and talk again. This time, it worked.

"I don't… want him… to touch me." Rin coughed a little more.

"I'm sorry, but all the other doctors are too busy right now. You know how many casualties and injuries we've had recently due to the increase in demons. Not to mention we're understaffed as it is due to budget cuts." The doctor said.

"Then Yukio." Rin said, then cleared his throat like it hurt to talk a little still.

"Huh? Nii-san, I may be a 'doctor' as an exorcist, but I by no means have a medical license. Let the doctor see you. Don't be difficult." Yukio frowned.

"Yes, Okumura-san, I really must look you over. To be sure you're okay, we need to run some tests, too. I mean, you were _dead."_ The doctor frowned as well, and a bit of sweat was visible on his brow.

"No. If there's no one else, then Yukio. Or else it's not happening." Rin crossed his arms in defiance like a five year-old.

Yukio sighed. He knew that look. He'd known it practically his whole life; as long as he could remember. "Doctor, he's not going to budge. I may not have a medical license in the real sense, but I do know what I'm doing. Please let me give him the physical examination."

"I really would prefer to do it…" The doctor trailed off. He was started to look a little frazzled. That didn't inspire the most confidence in Yukio, and it strengthened his decision to do the check-up.

"I assure you I can handle it. I've had the necessary training."

"I insist." The doctor said with more force than what was polite.

"No, I insist. Rin will NOT let you touch him if he doesn't want you to. So it's best if we get this over with as soon as possible right? And didn't you say you were understaffed? So you can go to someone else's aide while I work on Rin. A win-win situation, wouldn't you say, doctor?" Yukio said politely with a small smile on his face. But Rin could tell that that smile was as fake as could be. Yukio only used fake politeness when he was irritated, but wanted something.

"…Fine." The doctor said with a scowl, knowing that he couldn't find any flaws to argue with in Yukio's logic. He gave a glaring, pointed look at Yukio before walking out of the room and slamming the door harshly. The nurse followed quickly behind him, leaving the two Okumura twins alone once more. Yukio just smiled politely, and sighed with relief when they were both gone.

There was something about the doctor Yukio didn't like; he had a suspicious aura about him. He'd have to keep an eye on that doctor while Rin was in the hospital. "I can see why you didn't want him to touch you…" Yukio said quietly.

Rin nodded. "I got a bad feeling from him. He's creepy."

"Okay, well, let's get started. I'll take your vitals first." He took Rin's blood pressure, pulse and respirations. They were all a little too high for his liking. "Nii-san, you need to relax." Yukio chided.

Rin shrugged, he couldn't help it. Dying was stressful.

Next was the more physical stuff. Yukio checked Rin's reflexes (by which I mean he used more force than necessary when checking Rin's knee-jerk reaction, causing Rin to cry out and call him a bastard four-eyes). "Okay, can you stand up now?"

"Sure." Rin leaned over and swung his legs over the side of the bed, mindful of the IV inside his arm. He tried not to move too much; his chest was still throbbing a bit, as was the other parts of his body that had recently started working again.

When Rin's legs hit the ground they didn't stay there, however. He stumbled, like he had no control of his legs at all; they were like jelly, completely useless. When Yukio saw Rin's legs weren't going to support him at all, he dashed to Rin's side and caught him just in time before he fell.

"Looks like your legs need some more time before they're back to normal. Are you okay?" Yukio asked, concerned, still holding onto Rin so he wouldn't fall.

"I'm fine. I just can't feel my legs at all. But I could move my hips, though." Rin clung to Yukio tightly, afraid of what would happen if he let go. He really hoped his legs would start working again soon; as far as he knew they were the last thing that needed to come back.

"Okay, let's just lean you up against the bed. Hold onto the railing tightly." Yukio propped Rin against the bed, but half supported Rin with his own body when Rin still clung to him slightly. He sighed, but still got on with the check-up. He looked Rin's whole body over, but paid special attention to the damage done to the half-demon's chest. A nasty, jagged scar existed over where the hole used to be. Despite how healed it looked, the wound was still pretty fresh, and Yukio suspected it wouldn't take much for it to reopen, despite the scar-like tissue covering it up.

"Nii-san, you have to be very careful of your wounds or they may open up again. Don't move around too much." Rin scowled, but nodded. Yukio was the doctor here, and though Rin would never admit, he did know best. And besides, he didn't quite trust that railing; the bed looked pretty darn old. Yukio needed to help hold him up if he was going to make him keep standing.

There were other small wounds, such as cuts and bruises from the battle, but those were practically healed already due to Rin's accelerated healing. Other than that, Rin was okay. Yukio helped put Rin back in the bed when he was done. He noticed Rin shiver once, so he covered him up with the thin blanket on the bed.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Yukio asked as he sat in a chair next to Rin's bed.

Rin frowned, deep in thought. He seemed to stare blankly into space for more than a couple minutes, absolutely silent. It was always something serious when Rin was quiet, and by the way his brows were furrowed Yukio could tell that he was confused by something. "Don't hurt yourself trying to think too much." Yukio couldn't help but add.

"Shut up mole face! It's just… weird. It's too hard to remember, or something."

"What do you mean by that?" Yukio asked, leaning forward in this chair. He unknowingly furrowed his brows in the exact same way as Rin.

"The memories are there, I _think, _but it's like I can't get to them. They feel all fuzzy, like they're… covered up or something. I can't see them clearly, they're too damn blurry!" Rin clenched his fists and glared at the wall as if it had been the one to hide his memories from him.

"Then what IS the last thing that's clear?"

"…I think it might be you loading up your guns before we went into the forest. But the whole day's a little hard to see…"

_Is this normal amnesia, or something else? It's not completely uncommon for a person to have problems remembering what happened to them after an accident, but this just doesn't feel right. Could it have something to do with all those flames that surrounded him? _Yukio sat there thinking and theorizing, only coming back to reality when he heard his brother's voice.

"So, what did I miss? What happened that I don't remember? How long have I been out anyway?" Rin asked, wincing a little as he laid all the way back in his hospital bed. It wasn't a very comfortable bed, but Yukio could tell Rin was getting tired anyway by the way he kept blinking his eyes.

_He must really want to know what happened if he doesn't want to sleep for once. _So Yukio decided he'd tell him the truth; as much as he knew of it, at least. Which wasn't much.

"Well, it's a long story, and there's still a lot I don't know myself…"

"Hey, I got time." Rin grinned, and Yukio proceeded to tell Rin what he knew.

* * *

><p>"<em>NII-SAN!" Yukio screamed as he watched his brother get a hole punched straight through his chest. He watched his brother vomit up pints of blood. His own brother- no, not just his brother, but his twin- was dying before his very eyes and all he could do was watch. Oh, how he wanted to run straight to the red demon that had just done that to his brother and pump his full of holes. He wanted to make him suffer. But he couldn't. All he could do was watch. There were too many demons in his way, and one had even started spewing acid from its mouth, right in the direction Yukio wanted to go most. It was a wonder he'd even had a view of the fight at all, through the mob of demons; though they had quickly obstructing his view once again when more came out of the woodwork.<em>

_When he couldn't see his brother anymore, Yukio couldn't take it anymore. He HAD to get through all of these demons RIGHT NOW, or his brother would die. Not even a half-demon would be likely to survive that injury without immediate medical attention. He started firing his guns rapidly, barely even looking to see if he hit anything. He just wanted these demons out of his way. Through all the gunfire, he didn't even realize he was screaming. Now, his mind was blank but for one thought: Rin. All of his exorcist training went out the window when he's seen his brother supposedly die before his eyes._

_Yukio had somehow managed to blast a hole through the wall of demons, allowing him to see where Rin had been. He saw Rin's sword embedded in the red demon and suddenly the two of them went up in flames; blue flames. Satan's flames. He was sure the demon's screams could be heard throughout the whole forest, but right now he didn't pay them any mind. Right now, he was concentrating on his nii-san._

"_Okumura!Okumura!" Yukio heard Suguro shouting. That wasn't a good sign. Neither was hearing a child's screams. His anxiety level went up. _

"_Nii-san!" Yukio yelled out. There was no answer. "Nii-san, can you hear me?" Still no answer. Thinking a little clearer, Yukio cursed under his breath. He grabbed his last resort from his tool belt, a grenade. He hoped he wasn't close enough to his brother that he'd be effected to, but he had to take that chance. If he wasn't dead yet, he would be soon. So with that, Yukio pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it._

_There was a bright flash, and demons were disintegrated. After Yukio removed his arm from shielding his eyes, he was pleased to see that most of the area between him and his twin was clear. He wouldn't have much trouble getting to him if he acted quickly. As soon as he saw that, Yukio took off at a dead sprint towards where Rin lay on the ground bleeding and still emitting blue flames._

"_Nii-san! Nii-san! Can you hear me?" Yukio shouted as he knelt down by Rin as soon as he reached him. He took his pulse to see if he was even alive, and it didn't look like he'd be for long. It was dangerously slow. The kind of slow that meant only minutes left, if that. When he realized this, Yukio couldn't stop the few tears that had burning his eyes for a while now from escaping. _

_Suguro and the child from the last mission were leaning over Rin's bloody and blue body. The little boy was curled up in a ball sobbing, while Suguro was sure no stray demons came near. When he saw Yukio coming near he said quickly "I'll go get help. They're might still be some back-up somewhere! I'll take the kid with me." He stood up and gave Yukio one last look. "We'll save him. You'll see!" He grabbed the sobbing child's hand and ran off as fast as he could. _

_Yukio wished he could believe him. _

"_Nii-san! NO! I WON'T let you leave me!" Yukio's breath hitched as a couple more tears made their way down his cheeks. He took off his think exorcist's coat and applied pressure to the gaping hole in Rin's chest, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. The hole was too big and too much blood had already been lost. His brother's blood immediately soaked through the shirt and made its way onto his hands. If Yukio would have paid attention, he would have seen that the ground beneath him was red with blood as well, and his knees and legs were now sticky with the warm liquid. _

_His brother was going to die. No matter what he did. _

"_No, don't you DARE leave me alone, you IDIOT!" Yukio shouted. But it was useless. The flames that had been surrounding Rin went out suddenly as their master's heart beat its last. Yukio was now touching a corpse that would soon grow cold and stiff. He had failed to protect the only family he had left. _

_Yukio didn't know how long he sat there kneeling on the ground in front of Rin. His mind was completely blank now, not even thoughts of his brother ran through his head. It was just empty. The pain was too much and his brain had forced his mind to clear itself of all thoughts. Otherwise, a nervous breakdown might occur in the very near future. The only thing that snapped him out of it was something flickering in the corner of his eye. Something blue. _

_A blue flame._

_The small blue flame that originated by Rin's chest, right where the hole was, grew larger. As Yukio looked closer, he could see the flame was actually INSIDE Rin's body. It grew bigger and brighter and he could have sworn it spread further into Rin's body, where he couldn't see. It helped prove his theory when he touched Rin's arm and it was hot; much hotter than a normal human body, especially one that was dead. The flame that he could still see poking out of Rin's chest spread further, and with a sudden flash of light Rin's entire body went up in blue flames. Yukio had to quickly take a few steps back, it was so hot. _

"_Nii-san!" Yukio shouted, concerned. The flames of Satan had never hurt his brother, but there was always a first time for everything. Although, the flame had been concentrated in the hole in Rin's chest, which probably meant it was trying to heal it. But why would it try to heal his brother's body if it was already dead? It's not like he could come back to life… Could he?_

_So Yukio sat there for a long time, just watching his brother's body surrounded in blue flames to satisfy his curiosity. If there was even the slightest chance his theory could be true, he had to try. And right now, he couldn't move his brother since he was currently on fire. He'd just have to wait there with him. He noticed that the flames were slightly different than in the past; they glowed with a blue light that he had never seen before. He wondered what it meant, but dismissed it. He had bigger problems than that right now. Like… hadn't he just been surrounded by demons? _

_Yukio looked around in a frenzy, just now remembering his predicament. But to his surprise, there were hardly any demons in sight. There were only a few hiding out in the edges of the clearing behind trees. The grenade must have taken out more than he thought, but it still shouldn't have taken out that much. Frowning, Yukio looked down again, but kept his guard up all the while cursing himself for lowering it in the first place and forgetting where he was and what he was supposed to do. He saw the flames again, and that gave him an idea. The demons must have been scared of the blue flames, the mark of Satan himself. It was one of the few things that could kill them easily. _

_It was then that he noticed the exorcist that had accompanied them on this mission, Maki. He'd forgotten about her. She was keeping back any small demons that came this way, though there weren't much. She was acting as a body guard, and for that he was grateful. He'd have to thank her, but right now he didn't think his voice was strong enough to say anything. _

_It was about one more hour before the first section of the flames started to die out. The flames covering Rin's head fizzled out and left just enough room for Yukio to safely check the pulse in Rin's neck. He did so hesitantly, afraid of what he might find. If there was no pulsing beneath his fingers, then he didn't know what he would do. It would truly mean that he was alone in this world, and it had partly been his fault his one and only brother had died. He shouldn't have let him charge off alone. He shouldn't have let him use his flames so much in the first place. He should've been stricter. _

_Taking a deep breath, with his hand shaking, Yukio stuck his two fingers to Rin's neck to check for a pulse. He waited. He waited some more. He readjusted his fingers. Tried again. Waited. _

_There was none. _

"_DAMMIT!" Yukio shouted at the top of his lungs. That was it. His brother was dead. Thanks to him. He had caused his one living relative to die. He was… alone. "No, come on, you can't do this. You can't die on me! You're too stubborn to die!" But alas, for all his shouting, Rin's body didn't move. The flames just kept on burning and covering his body. _

_No._

_No, this couldn't be happening. His brother couldn't be dead. That just wasn't possible. If he was dead, why were the flames still there? Yes, they had to try to be healing. The must be. They HAD to be. It just must take some time, that's all, and that's why there was no pulse yet. Yes, that was it! Yukio clung to the last bit of proverbial string he could grasp and held onto it tightly. Too tightly, some might say, with an almost abnormal level of obsession. He needed it, for his sanity. It was his last hope. His brother's last hope. If his nii-san was taken away from him, he would truly have nothing left in this world. _

_It was another two hours or so before back-up arrived. In that time, it had begun to rain, so when Shura and any other exorcists that could be spared ran into the clearing Yukio and Rin were soaked. The flames covering Rin's body had been reduced to the hole in his chest and his lower body. Rain did nothing to demonic flames, so Yukio knew that wasn't the reason why the flames weren't as intense as before; they must just be done healing those areas they weren't at anymore. Yes, that MUST be it. _

"_Four eyes! What's going on? Why is Rin lying on the ground? Why is he covered in flames? Why are you covered in blood? Why are you just standing there, getting soaked and looking like shit? Where are all the demons?" Shura shot question after question at Yukio, and it irritated him. Especially the way she called him four eyes; it reminded him of Rin._

"_Will you shut up? I'll explain what happened later, but we need to get him out of here now. The demons had been scared of the flames earlier, but soon they'll sense that there's not a lot left and come for him again. Help me get him to a hospital." _

"_But-"_

"_Just DO IT!" Yukio shouted. At this point he didn't care that he wasn't being professional and he was acting like a child. He just wanted to get out of the rain and make sure his brother would be all right. Because he HAD to be._

"… _I don't know how to tell you this… but Yukio, he looks dead. Beyond help. And like he has been for a while." Shura said quietly, which showed how serious she was being at the moment. _

"_No! He's not! Well… maybe right now, but I don't think he will be later!" when he saw Shura looking at him as if he'd just started spontaneously doing the chicken dance, he clarified. "The flames! They've always healed him before, and I think they're trying to do that now. Before, his entire body was covered in them and I couldn't get close. Now it's only the hole in his chest and his lower body. I think the parts that don't have flames on them anymore have been healed. There's a good chance that my nii-san could still come out of this, if the flames can do their work properly. So let's get him out of here and to a hospital. NOW."_

_Shura looked like she wanted to argue some more, but when she heard Yukio utter one word with such desperation in his voice it made her reconsider. The proud, strong, and strict Yuki o was actually saying PLEASE to her, whom he hated? Maybe the apocalypse was coming or something. But really, what harm could it do to take Rin to the hospital? The worst that could happen would be Yukio going crazy when he finally realizes his brother is dead for good. Or Rin's body might be used as a puppet by Satan, and that was what the flames were for. Or… Okay, a lot could go wrong, but when was she a pussy that didn't take chances?_

"_Please." Yukio whispered just barely loud enough for Shura to hear._

_Shura sighed, took, a deep breath, paused, then sighed again before giving her answer. "Fine. But you're taking ALL the responsibility for whatever happens, do you hear me?"_

"_Yes!" Yukio said, already starting to lift his brother in his arms. The exorcists that had been standing in the background followed, including Maki, as Yukio and Shura headed out of the clearing. _

"…_And don't get your hopes up." Shura said just as serious as before, looking Yukio straight in the eye. Yukio averted his gaze quickly, but she saw him nod, so she was satisfied. Yukio carried Rin all the way to the van the exorcists had arrived in and put him inside. Just before they left Shura thought she heard him whisper a 'thank you' to her, but it was probably her imagination. At least, that's what she would say if the subject ever came up again._

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><p>When Yukio finished telling Rin what had happened , Rin had such a puzzled expression on his face it was almost comical. Yukio had left out the bits about him crying and basically freaking out, but added in any bits before the fighting had started that Rin couldn't remember.<p>

"So does any of that ring a bell?" Yukio asked hesitantly.

Rin shook his head. "Nope. It's still the same as before, all fuzzy and stuff." He yawned nonchalantly.

Yukio sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a massive headache right now. Not to mention he'd been up since the night before the mission, so he was tired to say the least. Rin's yawning didn't help at all.

"How long have I been out anyway?" Rin asked, interrupting Yukio's fantasy about getting a good night's sleep for once in his life.

"I think it's been two days since you were admitted to the hospital." Which meant he hadn't had any sleep in over three days. Lucky him.

"Whoa, really? That's a long time! I bet you haven't had any sleep in over three days, then huh?" Rin shouted loudly, making Yukio's head throb even more.

"How'd you know?" Yukio asked, confused and once again furrowing his eyebrows.

"I know you stayed up almost the whole night the day before the mission getting work done and preparing for it. I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and see you working. And knowing you, you haven't left my bedside at all, which you said was two days ago."

"Huh. I guess you can use your brain sometimes." Yukio said with wide eyes. It kind of surprised him how much his brother knew of his habits, though it shouldn't since they were twins and were together pretty often.

"Shut up! And I was going to…" Rin trailed off and huffed.

"You were going to what?"

"Nothing! It doesn't matter anymore, since I'm not going to let you!" Rin crossed his arms and turned his back to Yukio. He even stuck his lower lip out a little. Suddenly Yukio didn't feel so bad about his childish behavior a couple days ago.

"Tell me, nii-san." Yukio said with a small smile on his face, amused. It reminded him of when they were younger, with the way Rin was acting. Plus, not that he'd admit it, but it felt really good to hear his twin's voice again. Just a couple days ago he thought he'd never hear it again. Seeing his brother acting childish like usual was, for once, the best thing he could ask for.

"No!"

"Even if I say please?"

Rin thought about it for a moment. "…No. Your crime is too great for such a simple word." Rin sounded so serious it made Yukio smirk.

"Oh well… I guess there's nothing more I can do…" Yukio smirked some more as he left the bait there. Rin hated it when he gave up on finding out his 'secrets' or 'surprises' when they were kids. It had actually been a game of theirs. Now was no different. As Yukio leaned back in his chair, he couldn't hold back a long yawn.

Rin frowned and looked like he was in deep thought. When Yukio yawned again, his scowl grew and he shouted "All right! I give up! I WAS going to say that if you were tired, I would oh so graciously let you lay next to me in the bed since it's pretty big and I doubt you're going to go home soon even if I told you to." He huffed again when he finished.

"THAT"S what you were going to say?" Yukio chuckled. Yes, that sounded exactly like Rin. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Your injuries, except for your chest, seemed pretty healed already, so you probably won't have to stay here much longer. You may even be able to leave tomorrow. Plus, it's against hospital policy."

Rin stared at him for moment before saying "Who cares about crap like that? Are you sure you don't want to? You look like shit. I think you're going to keel over any second."

"I'm fine…" Yukio's act was disturbed by him emitting another loud yawn that he just couldn't hold back any longer. Proving that yawns were contagious, Rin yawned almost immediately afterwards.

"Oh, come on. I won't be able to stay awake much longer anyway. And I bet that the nurses won't come here in their rounds anytime soon after how 'polite' you were to the doctor." Rin snickered. "Plus you're a light sleeper and will wake up if you hear footsteps or something, if you're that concerned about people seeing."

"I don't know…" But he did feel pretty tired… and the chair wasn't all that comfy… Yukio could feel his resolved crumbling.

"It's either here or I will FORCE the nurses to kick you out and make you go home." Rin narrowed his eyes.

"Ugh, all right, all right." Rin smirked triumphantly and moved over in the bed to make room. Yukio turned the lights out and crawled in awkwardly. Rin fell asleep almost immediately, but Yukio stayed awake a little longer just listening to his brother breathe and the beeps on the monitor that surely meant his brother was alive. That, paired with the reassuring warmth of Rin's body helped lull him into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Rin received quite a lot of visitors during his stay at the hospital. Much more than he ever would have thought. Though he only stayed one more full day and was discharged the morning after that, in that one full day they just kept coming. Yukio had said that he hadn't been allowed visitors in the time that he was "asleep", so that must have been the reason for the long line.<p>

Rin's first visitors of the day were his classmates. Izumo, Konekomaru, Shiemi, Shima, and Suguro showed up early in the morning, just a little bit after Rin had finished his horrible hospital breakfast. It made him want to go home and cook. He was a little bit surprised to see all of them, especially at once, but he was more surprised about the unexpected guest that accompanied Suguro.

Rin was just laying in his bed, admittedly restless, and Yukio was sitting in a chair reading a book when a loud "Nii-chan!" filled the room as the little boy from before ran into the room straight for Rin.

"Whoa! What're you doing here, kid?" Rin asked, startled as the kid hopped onto his bed.

"He's with us. Well, me, since I've been the one taking care of him since the mission." Rin looked up to see Suguro and the rest of his classmates walking into the room. "Hey kid, don't run ahead of us!" Bon walked over and bopped the kid on the head.

"Owww. You're a meanie!" The kid whined as he held the new bump on his head.

"You wanna see a meanie?" Suguro bopped the kid on the head again. "That's for shouting and disturbing the other patients!"

"Owww! Nii-chan, he's hurting me!" The boy pouted and looked up at Rin.

"Me?" Rin shouted and pointed at himself. "You're calling _me _nii-chan?"

"Yes! You're my nii-chan from now on." The boy said matter of factly.

"But- But why ME?" Rin asked, exasperated. As far as he knew, this kid hated him. The last time he remembered seeing him he was screaming at him, calling him a monster. Not the kind of thing you do to someone you supposedly think of as your big brother.

"Because you saved his life." Suguro interrupted. "I heard that you had lost most of your memories about that day, but you got injured saving him, and me, from a demon. So we both thank you, I guess." Suguro said the last part gruffly, not wanting to show his true feelings as always.

"Yup!" The little boy chimed in. "Thanks for saving my life twice! I'm sorry about the mean things I said to you before. Will you forgive me and be my nii-chan?" He looked up at Rin with big eyes that sparkled with admiration.

_Oh no. I've seen that face on Yukio a long time ago. Crap, how can I say no? _thought Rin. "Well, I guess, but I don't even know your name. Or remember saving you. And no problem. Any time." He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"My name's Sora! And YAY!" He jumped and hugged Rin tightly across his waist, careful to avoid touching his still bandaged chest.

_Wow, such a 180. I didn't think that kid would ever stop screaming at me that one time, and now… huh, he's actually kind of cute. He reminds me of Yukio as a kid. _Rin smiled lightly and hesitantly patted Sora's head, much to the kid's delight who giggled. When he touched Sora's head, a brief image flashed through his mind of a red demon heading straight for the unsuspecting child. Then, he heard the child screaming and he thought he saw him leaning over him, tears streaming down his face. Suguro was next to him. But after a second the images were gone and with a blink he was back to looking at the little boy in the hospital room. After a moment he realized everyone was staring at him.

"You zoned out there for a minute, Okumura. Is everything alright?" Konekomaru asked hesitantly, as if he were afraid to say anything. _Is he still scared of me? _

"Oh, uh, I think I was just remembering something. I saw this red demon guy going after Sora, then I heard him screaming as he looked down at me, crying. Did that happen?"Rin asked, hoping that it did so that it would mean he was getting some memories back. He really did want to remember what happened that day; it was bugging him to no end.

"Yup." Suguro nodded his head. "After that I took the kid and called for help. Sure took its time getting there, though."

"Oh, okay. Hopefully that means I'll get more of my memories back." Said Rin to no one in particular.

"I'm sure you will, nii-san, in time." said Yukio.

When Sora heard Yukio call Rin 'nii-san' he looked over at him with wide eyes. "Is he your brother too?" he asked loudly.

"Um, yes." Yukio said, not quite sure how to answer or what this kid wanted with him and his brother.

"Oh." Sora said hotly and then shot Yukio a glare that was way beyond his years. He grabbed Rin's arm and clung to it tightly, as if to say _mine._

Yukio raised his eyebrow and looked to see if anyone else had noticed their little exchange. It appeared that no one had, since they were all talking amongst themselves. He glanced back at Sora, but the boy was looking around innocently, as if nothing had happened. Brat.

After that Rin's classmates stayed for another hour or so, just chatting and keeping Rin company. He was happy that they'd showed up, it proved they were really his friends. Maybe they weren't so scared of him now after all. It was nice to just hang out and talk for a while. Shima kept trying to make him laugh, Suguro tried to keep all of them under control, Shiemi made some unidentifiable potions in bright colors that were apparently supposed to make him heal faster, Konekomaru engaged in small talk, and Izumo criticized everyone. Just like normal.

When they left they all waved goodbye one by one until Suguro was the only one left. He muttered a quick "Thanks." Before glancing at Sora and waving goodbye to him. Sora waved back and smiled. When Suguro was almost out the door and Sora wasn't following him, Rin got confused.

"Hey, wait, didn't you forget something?" Rin called to Suguro.

Suguro shook his head. "Nope. The Headmaster said to take care of him until you woke up and then leave him here with you."

"What? Why?" Why was everything so confusing today, dammit?

"Dunno. See ya." Suguro waved again before walking out the door. Rin and Yuko were left, dumbfounded, with Sora smiling.

The next visitor was Shura, who stopped by about a half hour after the others had left. She seemed astounded, but relieved, that Rin was alive and well. The entire time she was there she yelled at Rin for getting himself killed, but they could both see that she wasn't really mad.

Before she left, Shura muttered "Wow, never woulda that it'd actually work…"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Yukio said dryly. Rin nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey wait- that means you thought I was dead for good, didn't you? That's SO mean!" Rin shouted.

Shura smirked. "Hey, you gotta hard head, brat, so all's well that ends well. Now I expect you to be back in training in three or four days!" With that, she walked out.

"No way!" Rin wailed. Yukio sighed. With the noise level in this room, they were going to be kicked out before Rin was officially discharged.

After Shura, the next visitor to Rin's hospital room was none other than Mephisto Pheles himself. He strode into the room with such arrogance and pompousness that it had the effect of a hundred trumpets announcing his impending arrival.

"O-ku-mu-ra-kun~ 3 " Mephisto sang as he entered the room. Rin suppressed a groan and Yukio's eye twitched once. Sora laughed at their faces; he'd met the headmaster once before and knew how he could be. But to him it was funny, so it was okay.

"Mephisto, what are you doing here?" asked Rin. "Don't you have a lot of headmaster/clown business to take care of?"

"Yes, I am so busy it makes me weep- BUT I've taken time out of my oh so busy schedule to visit one of my favorite students! You should be thanking me!"

"Sure. Are you done now?" said Rin, crossing his arms. He was restless since the nurses wouldn't let him walk around except to go to the bathroom, and irritated. This hospital was whack.

"Of course not! See, I came here on business too!" Mephisto waved a hand across his forehead dramatically. "I need to talk to you about our friend Sora-chan here."

"Sora? About what?" Rin asked, confused. Yukio put the papers he'd been grading down and sat up in his seat, giving his full attention. He'd had his suspicions about the child.

"You see, the reason Sora was in the forest the night you met him was because his poor parents had been killed by demons. His whole town, actually. There were only a few survivors. Sora was one of them, because his parents distracted the demons while he ran. He told me he ran into the forest because he knows it very well and used to play hide and seek in it with his friends."

"Is all that true, Sora?" Rin looked down at the child, whose brown eyes were a little watery. He nodded and dug his face into Rin's chest. Rin was a little surprised, but held him close. The kid really looked like he needed comforting, and he'd gotten used to doing it with Yukio, long ago.

"Now, he wasn't _supposed _to be in the forest a couple days ago, during the mission. The Knights of the True Cross had taken him into temporary custody since his parents had been killed by demons and thus he knew of their existence. He told us it had been a red demon- the very one you killed, one of the demon kings. Somehow Sora overheard from one of the exorcists that a red demon had been spotted in the forest area, thus the reason for our mission there, and so he stowed away in one of the vehicles the exorcists were using to get there, hoping to get revenge. We had no idea, until he jumped out of the vehicle and it was too late. Alas, you know how that turned out." Mephisto sighed, what else, dramatically.

"No offense, but what does that have to do with us?" Yukio asked bluntly, not caring that he was interrupting Mephisto.

"I was trying to build suspense!" Mephisto grumbled at Yukio, but then continued. "Well, otherwise than that Sora has taken an obvious liking to your brother here, but you guys have more in common than we originally thought. And since he has no other living relatives and his parents were allies of the True Cross, we decided you two would be perfect for the job."

"The job? Of what?" Yukio asked. He did NOT have a good feeling about this…

"To take care of Sora! He's a half-demon just like you, Rin! How fun! 3 "

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><p><strong>So that was it. Pretty craptastic, right? Yeah, that'll show her :rolls eyes: anyways, just because it sucked, doesn't mean I don't want you to review! Please, please, please, please, review! I ask you that from the bottom of my cold, tiny, almost nonexistent heart. I would seriously appreciate it. Tell me what you think of the chapter, honestly… please don't be mean though. I can be a bitch, but I have feelings too. Sometimes. BTW, I know I didn't do Shura's dialogue exactly right, but I was too lazy the first time I was typing it, and when I looked this over before I posted it I still didn't feel like going back and hick-ifying it. Sorry if that bothers you, but I don't really give a rat's ass about Shura. She annoys me, so she won't be a big part of the fic. And yes I know, the part of Rin coming back to life doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but bear with me. It's Satan. It'll be explained a bit more in the future. There will be repercussions, believe me. <strong>

**SO, WHAT DID MEPHISTO MEAN EXACTLY BY 'TAKING CARE' OF SORA? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO RIN NOW THAT HE'S COME BACK TO LIFE? WHEN WILL SATAN MAKE ANOTHER APPEARANCE? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WILL RIN AND YUKIO EVER DEVELOP NAUGHTY FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER? ALL THIS, AND MORE, WILL EVENTUALLY BE ANSWERED, IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF BABY. THE FLAAAAAMEEE! **

**Sorry about that, been watching too much DBZ lately. Sorry about the super long and pointless authors notes. I'm just in a ranting mood. Okay, I'll shut up for good now. **


	5. Awkward Silence

**Here's a combined response to the guest reviews: THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really appreciate y'all taking the time out to read and review this. It's one of the few things that make me grin like an idiot. I know some of you might be worried about how this doesn't seem exactly like the summary, but I assure you it will get there. It'll just take some time. I've read fics that are almost in chapter twenty, and the main even still hasn't happened yet. So it'll just take some time to get there, but I promise you it will happpen. Rin still has plenty of torture to come. :D**

**Disclaimer: Guess who owns Blue Exorcist. It starts with Kazue and ends with Kato. Which means I don't own it. :(**

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><p>"We have to WHAT?!" Rin shouted at the top of his lungs. It was hard to believe that not just a day ago he was confined to the bed because he could barely move. Rin was definitely alive and well. So well, in fact, that Yukio thought he could use a good slap to shut him up.<p>

"Take care of little Sora-chan here. He has foster parents set up for him by the True Cross, but you two will be in charge of training and educating him about demons and the like. He wants to be an exorcist when he grows up, isn't that adorable? So he'll be spending most of his time with you!" Mephisto said with booming laughter.

"We can't take care of a kid! We're practically still kids ourselves! At least, that's how others treat us. Right Yukio?" Rin looked to his twin for confirmation.

"Indeed. We don't have the time or the resources to do such a thing. We have no obligation to do this, and we will NOT do this. Surely there is somebody better qualified."

"No!" Mephisto pouted. "You're a teacher, so you're definitely qualified. Besides, Sora-chan _wants _you specifically, right Sora-chan?" He looked to the little boy with a smile.

"Yeah! Only nii-chan!" Sora hugged Rin tightly, with determination written all over his little face.

"That settles it! You two are in charge of him. It's an order you can't refuse. So there." Mephisto stuck his tongue out.

"But-" Rin and Yukio said at the same time, which made Sora laugh.

"No buts! I do not accept buts! Only yeses!" Mephisto declared loudly. "What's done is done. I will send you more information about what to do with Sora when you get home. Toodles!" And with that, Mephisto disappeared into thin air and a poof.

"…Do you know what just happened?" Rin asked blankly.

"Not sure, but I think we just got forced into taking care of a kid that we should have absolutely no responsibility for, for no reason other than someone's amusement." Yukio said in the same blank voice.

"Dammit…" Rin groaned and allowed himself to fall back in bed with a thump. "How the HELL are we supposed to do this? I dunno know what to do with a kid!"

Rin had forgotten that same kid was right next to him. "Nii-chan…" Rin turned to see Sora with unshed tears in his big brown eyes. "Am I going to be trouble for you? Do you not want me around?"

"No no no, that's not it! Not at all!" Rin panicked, shaking his head and arms violently. "We're just… inexperienced when it comes to these things. But I guess we'll try, okay. So don't cry. PLEASE don't cry, I beg you!"

"O-okay." Sora wiped his eyes dry.

After that, to keep Sora amused and to prevent him from crying again, Rin threw himself into playing with the little boy. They played hide and seek, tag, and even catch, much to Yukio and the nurses' detriment, with a ball they snatched from the lost and found. The nurses kept yelling at Rin to go back to bed, to be quiet, and to not run in the halls, but it all fell on deaf ears. It was decided that he would be discharged the next day, due to disturbing the other patients. If he could run around as much as he did, he had to be fine anyway. Plus any tests they did showed that everything was perfectly fine with Rin.

When one fed-up nurse threatened that she'd sedate him if he didn't stop running and shouting, Rin finally decided to go back to his room. Yukio smirked.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it feels good to be back!" Rin said enthusiastically as he, Yukio, and Sora entered into the decrepit old boys' dormitory that they lived in. Sora ran around 'oooh'-ing and 'ahhh'-ing at things he found interesting, loving how creepy it was in there. Sora was going to stay with them until the foster parents were ready in a couple days. They decided to prepare a room for him in the large dormitory, since a letter from Mephisto with instructions had mentioned that if training ran too late on some nights then he'd spend the night. Plus the foster parents apparently weren't that used to kids, as this would be their first foster child. They'd said that if it was possible, they'd like to have Sora stay with Yukio and Rin for a night every now and then.<p>

Seeing the hyper Sora running around like there was no tomorrow, Rin couldn't help but think that he and his twin were just being turned into glorified babysitters. Seeing Yukio's annoyed expression, he was sure he was right. Oh well, at least he wasn't suffering alone. Neither of them had much patience, so this was definitely going to be a challenge. But they could do it together, right?

"Sora-ch-kun," Yukio called, switching honorifics when Sora glared at him, "Why don't we go put your stuff away and get your room all settled before doing anything else, okay?"

"But I wanna look around." Sora protested.

"He's right, Sora-chan. After we get everything put away nicely, we can go play hide-and-seek or something while we explore, okay?" Rin said, trying to keep the situation from getting any worse.

"Okay!" Sora agreed and smiled. He took Rin's hand as the half-demon led him to his room.

"Don't you have a lot of homework to catch up on?" Yukio called after him, but Rin ignored him.

Yukio tried not to let his irritation show at Sora's obvious dislike of him. He didn't know what he had done to offend that child, but that kid just did NOT like him. The glares he received from that cherubic face were pretty intense. Not to mention that the brat didn't listen to a single thing he said. He had a feeling these were going to be a very, very long two days.

There was no way he was going to finish all the work that had piled up for him while Rin was in the hospital. Even though he'd finished a good portion of it during free moments, more just kept on coming. He really needed a vacation. And taking care of a hyper Rin and a hyper Sora did NOT count as a vacation in any way.

"Why me?" Yukio muttered to himself as he reluctantly followed Rin and Sora to find a room suitable for the little brat. They ended up deciding on a room directly across from the one Rin and Yukio shared. A lot of the rooms in the old dormitory were damaged in some way from not being taken care of properly; water damage and mold being common in many. Plus being a kid, Sora didn't want to be far away from his 'nii-chan'. So there weren't many options, and that turned out to be the best one.

_Oh joy. Two half-demons. Please kill me now._

* * *

><p>The next morning Yukio woke up early, as always, to get some work done. That mountain of homework, paperwork, and preparations for his class wasn't going to do itself. When he opened his eyes, he got a bit of a shock. Sora was snuggled up against Rin in the bed across from his own.<p>

"Nii-san. Nii-san!" Yukio whispered, trying to get Rin's attention. But Rin was a hard sleeper, so he quickly gave up for fear of waking Sora too. He got out of bed and walked across the room to the other one and shook his twin's shoulder. For five minutes. Until he just decided to slap him remorselessly, which finally got the job done.

"Huh? Wha?" Rin mumbled groggily. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them, and then saw what was in front of him. "Whoa. What's this doing here?"

"That's what I want to know." Rin looked up at Yukio, noticing him for the first time.

"Oh, good morning Yukio. Hey, why'd you wake me up?" Rin whined.

"Because we have stuff to do and you can't sleep the day away. You NEED to finish your homework. Anyways, why is he in there with you?"

Rin shrugged. "I dunno. He must have gotten scared and crawled in there in the middle of the night. He's just a little kid."

"Yeah, well he needs to learn boundaries. We are to train him, nothing more. Even if Mephisto thinks of us as nothing more than babysitters, that is the only thing he outright instructed us to do. He may have to stay with us sometimes, but that doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants."

"Oh, lay off. I don't really mind. Besides, I seem to recall you doing the same thing all the time when you were his age. I must have just instinctively moved over."

Yukio frowned. Rin did have him there, but he didn't have to admit it. "Whatever. Just get up already."

Rin stuck his tongue out at Yukio's back. He got out of bed slowly, so as not to wake the sleeping child. He was already amazed he hadn't waken up already, so he wanted to keep it that way. He glanced at a clock on one of the desks at scowled. It was only 7:00. Damn Yukio for waking him up that early.

Rin got to making breakfast, despite being more tired than he would have liked. Because it was very rare that Rin had time to make a large breakfast in the morning, and even rarer that Yukio was still around while he made breakfast since he always got up so late, he was a bit surprised that Yukio started helping him. He just came into the kitchen and started grabbing things he knew Rin needed. Instead of saying anything though, Rin just shot Yukio a smile that conveyed more thanks than any words could. They didn't need words anyway. They already understood each other more than anyone else in the world.

Upon smelling the cooking food, Sora woke up and made his way into the kitchen just a couple minutes before its completion. Rin was eyeing the food closely while Yukio stood next to him, waiting to get plates and chopsticks ready. When they heard Sora's footsteps, they turned around simultaneously.

"Ohaiyo!" Rin greeted with a big smile on his face. "I was just about to come wake you up. Breakfast is nearly ready."

"Ohaiyo." Sora replied back, still looking a little groggy. He took a seat at the table and waited.

Rin and Yukio served up the food and within minutes they were all sitting at the table… with an awkward silence. Rin and Yukio weren't used to having anyone else around during moments like these, much less a little kid they'd only just met. They weren't sure how to act around him. Sora seemed too half-asleep to start up conversation, so for the first part of the meal it was silent.

While it was silent, Yukio's mind began to wander. He couldn't help but think about what type of half-demon Sora was. It wasn't entirely uncommon for humans to have a bit of demon blood in them, but half-demons themselves were pretty rare. A lot of half-demons ended up in Gehenna, choosing the life of a demon, if they were of strong demon influence. Sometimes demons created children for their own amusement, and often they took the child with them once they were born. So Yukio wondered what Sora's family had been like; he'd said he'd had a mother and a father that had saved him over their own lives. If they had both been his real, biological parents, what kind of demon would stay in Assiah and develop a family?

Apparently Rin had been thinking the exact same thing, because at that moment Rin decided to end the awkward silence by blurting out "So Sora-chan, what kind of half-demon are you?"

Yukio dropped chopsticks and sighed. "Nii-san! That is a very rude and personal question for you to ask so suddenly, especially of a child. He just went through a traumatic experience and you want him to talk about his family?"

"Hmm, I guess you're right." Rin looked down sheepishly. "Sorry, Sora-chan. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Sora, who had remained silent until now, spoke up. "It's okay, nii-chan. If it's YOU asking me about it, I don't care." He smiled at Rin to reassure him it was alright. "My dad wasn't my _real _dad. I don't know what happened to him, but he was a demon so I guess he went back to Gehenna. My mom talked about him from time to time, and she always sounded really sad when she did. But the dad that raised me was really nice and he treated me like I was his real kid. I always thought of him as my real father. But when I started doing… weird… things, my mom had to tell me what I really was, a half-demon. She said my dad had control of plants and things, and they always met in the forest. The whole forest was under his control, according to her. I don't know the name of a demon that does that, but I guess that's the kind of half-demon I am. My parents named me Sora because they thought it was ironic or something." Sora shrugged and picked up another omelet, as if he hadn't just spoke like he was sixteen instead of six and probably three times more words than they had ever heard him speak before combined.

"O-okay. Interesting." Said Rin, not knowing what else to say. "Well, um, I hope talking about it didn't make you… sad or anything."

"No, it's okay," Sora shook his head. "I miss my parents a lot, and I wish they hadn't had to sacrifice themselves like that, but I know that they'd want me to use the life they tried so hard to save to be happy and live life to the fullest."

Continue awkward silence.

"um… yeah…" Rin said lamely. Yukio nodded his head, silently agreeing.

_This kid is weird _was the thought going through both Yukio and Rin's head at that moment.

Sora just smiled cherubically.

* * *

><p>And that same thought kept running through their head for the rest of the day. For the first part of the day Yukio tutored Sora in the same things taught in the cram school. Sora picked things up a lot faster than Yukio expected; faster than Rin, that was for sure. Rin was at his desk on the other side of the room, attempting to do homework while Yukio kept an eye on both him and Sora.<p>

The afternoon was filled with Rin and Sora outside near some greenery while Yukio was inside at his desk getting his own work done. They were testing Sora's control over the flowers that were in the area. Rin didn't really know what to do, since he was in training himself, plus he and Sora were two totally different half-demons. Rin was the son of Satan himself, and he had the blue flames as his power. Sora's father controlled plants and the forest itself; the opposite of Rin's. So Rin figured the best way to go about it would just be to see what Sora's powers were like for himself.

During their little training period, Sora manipulated the flower beautifully. He moved his hand the way he wanted the flower to move, and it was just like a puppet. It twisted, stretched, and danced exactly how he wanted it to.

"Awesome. You really have a good grasp of your powers already, huh?" Rin commented, amazed.

"Yup!" Sora smiled. "I can do it with just my mind too. Watch!" Sora dropped his hand and stared at the flower with intense concentration. In a second it was bobbing up and down again. In a few more seconds the surrounding flowers were doing the same, until every flower within sight was dancing to a nonexistent beat.

"That's amazing! If you can do this, you don't even need me. But whoa, that's really beautiful." Rin gaped at the sight before him.

"No, of course I do! This is just moving flowers a little. The real challenge is manipulating a tree. I can barely do it."

"Oh, okay. I guess that'll be the next thing we can work on." Rin paused and then became serious. "Say, Sora-chan, when you're using your powers, do you get a… bad feeling while doing it?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked innocently.

"Like, do you ever feel like _they're _trying to control _you _instead of the other way around? Like they're just waiting for you to let your guard down so that they can take over your body? That the entire time you use them, they whisper to you to let loose and just give in. But if you do, you won't be yourself anymore. Do they fight you like that?"

Sora's eyes were wide, as if he really hadn't been expecting Rin to say something like that. He almost looked scared to talk about it. When he did speak, his words were slow and deliberate, and he suddenly seemed a lot older. "…In a way. When I use them, I get a really… happy feeling coursing through my veins. My brain tells me that I shouldn't like that feeling, that it's wrong, but I do it anyway, like I can't stop myself once I start. Sometimes my demon side feels really strong, like it wants to overpower me. But then I tell it to stop and it does."

"…Okay, that's good." Rin tried to keep his voice from shaking. He didn't know why, but it really seemed to want to tremble. Why was that? Was it because he had honestly been expecting Sora to have the same problem he did? That maybe it wasn't entirely his own fault he couldn't control his own powers completely, it was something all half-demons went through? That Sora already seemed to be better in control of himself than he did?

_Calm down, calm down. You're the son of SATAN. You have to deal with SATAN'S flames. That has to be a lot harder to control than flowers and trees, right? It's something totally different! Of course he'd be better at using his powers than you, they're so much simpler. That's all it is. That's all it is, _Rin reminded himself in his head. He took a deep breath and then looked at Sora again.

Sora just smiled cherubically.

* * *

><p>Later that night, after Sora had gone to bed, Rin decided he really needed a nice long soak in a hot bath. That always seemed to make everything better. His head had been pounding all day, and it was only getting worse. He'd taken some medicine, but that didn't help anything. Hopefully a relaxing bath would help.<p>

Rin entered the bathroom only to hear a small splash as Yukio just got in himself. "Aw man, you're already in here… and I really wanted to take a bath…" Rin trailed off, pouting. He turned around dejectedly.

Yukio sighed. "It's fine, nii-san. You can come in here too if you want; I don't really care. It's not like it's not big enough."

It was true. The bath in the boys' dormitory was huge. About the size of one at an onsen. They could probably swim in it if they wanted to… okay, Rin knew that from experience. He'd tried it one of his first few times taking a bath in such a humongous one. He just couldn't help himself.

"Really? Yay! Thanks Yukio! You're not so bad after all." Rin grinned merrily as Yukio rolled his eyes. Rin stripped and when he was ready he practically threw himself in the water, creating a huge splash.

"Ugh!" Yukio coughed and wiped his eyes. "Nii-san, don't splash. You'll get the water everywhere, and who do you suppose is going to be the one to clean it up?"

"Sorry!" Rin smiled innocently.

"Don't smile and say sorry if you don't mean it. I may not be able to see it clearly, but I know that's what you are doing."

"But I _am._" Rin mockingly protested. "I'm hurt that you won't believe me."

Yukio rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. He just wanted a nice relaxing bath after a long days work. He was so tired that when he closed his eyes he still saw piece after piece of paperwork that he still had to complete. He sunk a little lower into the water.

Seeing that Yukio was ignoring him, Rin smirked mischievously and splashed Yukio right in the face. "nii san!" Yukio shouted, but Rin ignored him and splashed him again. Pissed, Yukio tried to judge where exactly his brother's face was so he could return the favor. This turned into an all-out Splash War that lasted fifteen minutes and ended with two boys' eyes burning, one seriously soaked bathroom that Yukio would probably have to clean alone, and no clear winner.

When it was all over both boys breathed heavily, exhausted, but Rin laughed through it. He couldn't remember the last time they had done this. They used to do it all the time when they were younger, much to their father's detriment, but as they got older they obviously stopped taking so many baths together. It happened occasionally that they were in the bath at the same time, but it couldn't really be called taking a bath together. Rin would just be getting out when Yukio was getting in, or vice versa; or they were just so busy they didn't have time to relax in the bath like that. It had been so long since the two boys had just had fun together like that, that he couldn't help but laugh. It reminded him of the old times he admittedly missed.

"What's so funny?" Yukio asked, noticing his brother chuckling. He tried to shake some of the water out of his ears before sitting down to hopefully finish the rest of his bath in peace. He probably wouldn't have much luck with Rin there though.

"Oh nothing. Just remembering how we used to do this sort of thing almost every night when we took a bath. The old man used to really hate it and yell at us every night. Sometimes he'd even make us dry everything we'd gotten wet. But it was SO worth it." Rin laughed as he sat down right next to Yukio.

"How could I not remember? It was always YOUR fault since you always initiated it, but I always got stuck with most of the work since you weren't any help. Now that I think about it, every punishment I received was your fault in some way." Yukio frowned as the realization hit him.

"Heh heh, let's not sweat the small stuff okay?" Said Rin said, trying to change the subject. He didn't want Yukio increasing his amount of homework or something.

Yukio noticed how even though the bath was so big; Rin was only a few inches away from him. He was curious so he decided to ask Rin about it. "Nii-san, this bath is huge. Can't I have any personal space?"

"Huh?" Rin acted like he was just noticing too. "Oh, sorry. It's just that when we took a bath together when we were kids, we were always close together since our tub was kinda small. I guess it was instinct or something." Rin shrugged, but made no indication that he was going to be moving anytime soon.

"It's fine." Yukio said, understanding. Old habits die hard. He really didn't mind. As Yukio looked at his brother, he thought he saw something on his shoulder. He squinted and looked a little closer, but his vision was too blurry to confirm his suspicions. He grabbed for his glasses near the edge of the bath and put them on, not caring that they'd get a little wet.

When Yukio had his glasses on he again looked at Rin's shoulder and found he was correct. "Aha! I was right! Nii-san, you have a mole on your shoulder." Yukio pointed out the tiny brown mark with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"So?" Rin shrugged. "I have a few of them too. Not as many as you do though, I think."

"Have you ever counted them?" Yukio asked seriously.

"Um, no, why would I do that? I don't really care about them."

"Stand up," said Yukio.

"…What?"

"Stand up." Yukio repeated. "I want to compare how many moles we have once and for all. If you've never counted them then you can't know for sure that I have more than you. "

''Are you serious? You really want me to stand up and count how many moles I have?" Rin said incredulously. He knew his brother was sensitive about how many moles he had, but he didn't think he would turn it into some kind of competition. Apparently Yukio had a bit of a weird side that he was just now finding out about.

Yukio nodded his head, totally serious. Rin sighed and rolled his eyes, but gave in. if it meant that much to Yukio, he'd do it. But he seriously didn't think he had more moles than him. He'd never really paid attention, but he'd never noticed that many either.

Yukio got to work looking all over Rin's body for the tiny brown dots. One on his left shoulder… one on the small of his back… one on his right thigh…

Rin was surprised when Yukio came to the front to look too. The water only barely covered a certain part of his anatomy, and he couldn't help but blush slightly. He and Yukio had seen each other naked countless times, but they'd never really _looked _at each other up close like this.

"Okay, sit down and then lift your legs up a little."

"…" Rin just stared at Yukio like he was half crazy.

"Just do it."

Rin sighed again, but complied. Yukio poked every mole he found, so he could tell Yukio had found one on his left ankle. When Yukio was done he put his legs down and suddenly Yukio was really really close. He studied Rin's chest and neck while Rin decided to stare back at the brunette. Yukio had grown very tall, a lot taller than him, he noticed. When he was a child he'd been very scrawny, but now he had defined muscles. He'd also noticed Yukio did in fact have quite a few moles all over his body. It was hard not to notice them when you saw his bare body; no wonder Yukio was a little self-conscious. He would be too if he had that many.

"You have one on your stomach… and one more on your neck." Yukio mumbled as he lightly touched both spots, startling Rin. Yes, Yukio was very close. Their noses were almost touching, that's how close he was. Rin looked up a little to see Yukio's blue-green eyes. _There, _he thought, _is the one thing that has not changed. Yukio's eyes are still the same pretty color._

When Yukio let out an irritated sigh Rin snapped out of his odd reverie. "What's wrong?" Rin asked, shaking his head of any weird thoughts."

"You have six moles. That's less than half of what I have." Yukio said, sounding depressed.

"That's all? That's what you're upset about?" Rin scoffed.

Yukio turned the other way, finding that he actually had to resist the sudden urge to stick his tongue out like a child. His brother must be a bad influence.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're a lot taller than me. Plus girls like you more. You're smarter than me. You're further ahead in your dreams than I am; you're already an exorcist and an amazing one at that. Overall, you're a lot hotter than me." Rin babbled, panicking for some reason at the sight of a depressed Yukio. He didn't even realize how weird he's just sounded.

"Ummm…thanks…I guess…" Yukio said, not meeting his twin's eye.

The awkward silence strikes again.

Bu then they both burst out laughing, and everything was fine.

* * *

><p>The next day was so much worse. Rin knew he had to finish his homework because he had school tomorrow, but he just couldn't concentrate. His head was <em>throbbing.<em>The bath last night had helped for a little while, but when he woke up in the morning it had returned with a vengeance.

It was so much worse than a migraine. No matter what medicine he took it didn't help. He just couldn't concentrate on anything, his head hurt so badly.

His homework left blank, Rin and Sora went outside to practice. This time they tried to move trees, since that was what Sora said he had trouble with. After an hour or practicing, the most Sora could do was get a few branches to move in the general direction he wanted them to, not like the flowers that listened to his every will. The little boy seemed a little disappointed at his slow progress, so Rin offered him a pat on the head.

"Hey, you're doing good. It's going to take some time and a lot of practice to accomplish a goal." Rin smiled, despite the pounding in his head. It was less like pounding and more like a jackhammer to his brain, actually.

"Okay." Sora smiled lightly. "But can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, ask away."

"What are your powers like? I know I saw them in the forest, but I was too scared to get a good look at them. They were like blue flames, weren't they? Can I see them?"

Rin froze. Normally he wouldn't think twice about showing off his powers, but a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, not to mention the lightning striking his head, told him that it wasn't a good idea at the moment. But looking at Sora's expectant face, he also found it hard to say no. _What can it hurt? _He thought. _I'll just do it really quickly and then be done it with it. No harm done. What's the worst that can happen? _

Rin slowly walked over to a rock that Kurikara was resting on. With each step his head hurt more. When he'd brought it outside with him the same thing had happened, and he'd almost cried out in pain. But his time was even worse. He didn't know if it was because of his intentions to unsheathe it, but something was wrong. His instincts told him to drop the sword and to never touch it again, to not grasp the scabbard and lightly start to pull. But for the first time Rin decided to ignore his instincts. There was a teeny part of him that _wanted _to do this, despite the pain. It was _telling _him to do it. Though the voice was small, it managed to overpower everything else. Rin listened to it.

Big mistake.

Rin fully unsheathed the sword and his head felt like it was going to split in two. No, scratch that, like a butcher knife was hacking away at it, slashing and stabbing more with every second. Surely it would explode any moment, and when that moment came, he would welcome it. Anything to get rid of this _pain. _His head was hot, like it was on fire, and the fire was spreading with every passing second. It _burned, _worse than any other time he had felt a similar sensation. It was so, so hard to keep himself from screaming in agony like he wanted to.

There was a bright burst of blue light, and the flames were suddenly everywhere in sight. Sora cried out and jumped back. But as fast as the flames spread, they were gone in a second, receding to where Rin was. He looked up from the ground from where he had been covering his head, slowly, surprised that he hadn't just been burnt to a crisp. He saw Rin gasping for breath and his legs give out, every now and then letting out a cry of pain. His hands dug into the dirt and his face was contorted in pain.

But the outside was nothing compared to what was going on in Rin's head. Because in Rin's head, at the precise moment his flames burst out, he felt something snap inside him. It felt like something breaking inside his mind; like a barrier of some kind. It shattered and there was the most intense wave of pain he had ever felt in his life, more than when he had died. And then there was nothing. A cool, blissful nothing. He took a deep breath to calm himself and tried to stand up, only to fall back done.

Because he wasn't alone in his mind anymore. There was a sinister presence, a very familiar one.

"_Now now, my son. You didn't think I'd save your life for free, did you? You know nothing's free in this world, and that goes for Gehenna too. So did you miss me?"_

* * *

><p><strong>So I think that chapter pretty much sucked. What do you think? I would really like to know, so please review. It means a lot to me, and I appreciate and love every review and alert I get. Reviews are love. I need love to live. So please review and give me love. I'll give you a monster cookie. <strong>


	6. Coulrophobia

**Just to warn y'all, this story is going to be getting a lot darker. Which means the characters will inevitably become OOC. Oh yeah, and remember I how I mentioned that there might be some MephistoXRin? Um, yeah, it's in this chapter. And there will be more. There was really no way around it because… I couldn't think of anything else. :) But it doesn't go into detail too much, so please forgive me if you don't like it?**

* * *

><p><em><strong>It's too late to change your mind<br>Even though this fragile world is tearing apart at the seams  
>We can't wash these sins away<br>This sinking feeling everyday: I'm waking up in someone else's life**_

_**Is it so hard for you?  
>'Cause it's so hard for me<br>To believe that what we dreamed could ever come to life again  
>'Cause I cannot erase this lie<strong>_

_**Not gonna let this day go by  
>I'm gonna save this wasted life<br>And nothing can stand in my way  
>Not enough to say goodbye<br>Burn it til there's nothing left  
>I'm drowning in the mess that I have made<strong>_

_**Is it so hard for you?  
>'Cause it's so hard for me<br>To believe that what we dreamed could ever come to life again  
>'Cause I cannot erase this darkness in me<strong>_

_**The water's rising around us  
>There is no other way down<br>I only have myself to blame for it all**_

_**Is it so hard for you?  
>'Cause it's so hard for me<br>To believe that what we dreamed could ever come to life again  
>If I could just erase my mind<br>But I cannot erase this lie**_

**-"Erase This" by Evanescence**

It all came rushing back to him. The memories of that day. They were shadowed by the laughter of Satan himself, but clear. Yes, it all was all crystal-clear how he had basically sold his soul to the devil. How naïve he had been. To think that he could ask SATAN for help and get away with it? How could he have done that? Why? Had he been THAT desperate to live? No, that wasn't it… If it had just been him, he would have at least died with dignity. But he wasn't alone; he had Yukio to think about. He had to _protect _Yukio. They were all each other had now. Damn Satan for playing on his one weakness.

_**Now, now, **_Satan's voice whispered inside his head, _**you have more weaknesses than that. Don't get cocky now, my son. A lot of human history's great rulers have fallen to their arrogance. **_

_What are you talking about? Just get out of my head! Leave me alone!_

_**Now why would I do that? That was the price you paid for me to bring you back so that you can take care of that dear little brother of yours. I have become a part of you through my flames, and I can be inside your mind whenever I want. Which, I assure you, will be ALL the time!**_

_No! Get out, get out, get out! _The urge to shake his head and cover his ears was strong, but Rin didn't want to seem crazier than he already was. It wouldn't have done anything anyway. Satan's voice was just so _loud._

_**Your mind belongs to me now, and soon your body will too. I'm counting down the days, my prodigal son. **_If they had been talking face to face, Rin was sure he would have seen a malicious smirk on Satan's face… if he even had a face in his true form in Gehenna. Who knew what he really looked like; not that Rin cared to ever find out.

_That's never going to happen, I can promise you that. You might be inside me somehow, but you will NEVER control me. So just get out! _

"Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Are you okay? What's wrong with you?" Rin snapped out of his "conversation" with his "father" when he heard Sora's alarmed voice. He blinked a few times to get back his bearings before looking at the child in front of him.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. Nothing wrong here. Don't worry… just… um…"

"Nii-chan, after showing me your powers you totally just started spacing out for no reason. I've been calling you for five minutes! Are you sure you're okay?"

"Sh-showed you my powers? Um, about what happened..." Rin started hesitantly. He found it hard to believe that Sora has somehow missed his almost burning down everything in sight, including Sora, and his cries of pain.

"Nope! I didn't see anything!" Sora chirped with a smile. Rin just stared at him. That cherubic smile was truly starting to seem strange. And why would Sora say that? But… who was he to argue? All of a sudden, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"…Right," Rin muttered.

_**Come on, this kid's annoying. Don't you think he's annoying? We should just kill him. **_Came Satan's whispering voice. It was almost like a paradox. His voice was like a whisper, yet so loud inside his head.

_No! Don't put thoughts like that inside my head! Just get the FUCK OUT! _Rin mentally screamed. On the outside, he was following Sora back to the dorm, but on the inside it felt like he was waging war.

_**Why not? It'd be so easy. It'd be fun. You know you want to… **_Satan mocked him with a fake cheerful tone.

_No I don't, and don't you EVER suggest that again! I'm going to find a way to get you out of my head or die trying! And then I'm going to destroy you!_

Satan's laughter boomed inside his head, and this time he couldn't help instinctively covering his ears. He was just glad Sora didn't seem to notice anything. Or if he did, he didn't say anything. But for the rest of the way back, and every time he saw Sora for the rest of the day, Satan forced images into his mind of many, many different ways he could kill Sora.

* * *

><p>It had been a week since then. One horrible week that he'd had to deal with the Devil himself living inside his head.<p>

It was sick and disgusting. Rin felt like every thought inside his head wasn't safe. He was never alone, in the worst way possible. Satan loved to torture him with images of what he liked to call "Coming Attractions" or "The Way Thing Could Be". They were all horrifying.

They were of death. The Apocalypse. Armageddon. The end of the world as we know it. Doomsday. Whatever you wanted to call it, that was what they usually were. Sometimes they were so bad they made him retch, literally. In the huge True Cross Academy, it was extremely hard to get to a toilet in time to throw up. The ones that made him do that the most where when the images were of his friends. Of _him _killing his friends. He couldn't be around them after that, and always made some excuse to cover up why he was really leaving.

Sometimes the images were like a veil over his eyes. When he looked at things, he saw blurry, faded version of what Satan wanted him to see. They were horrible, but a lot easier to deal with than the other type. At least he could just blink or look away and most of the time they went away. But the other times, when Satan was feeling particularly sadistic, he decided to "treat" Rin to illusions.

The illusions were so much worse. They came with no warning. One minute he'd be sitting in class, the next he'd be watching blue flames burn it down. They were so hard to distinguish from real life that sometimes Rin would get scared, so scared, that they _were _real. That maybe he really _had _ just slaughtered all of his classmates with his flames. But then they were gone and he was left mentally hyperventilating but trying not to show it. Which usually didn't work.

Rin could tell that his friends had noticed, at least a little bit, that something had changed inside him. He knew they thought he was acting weird, but that it wasn't anything serious, right? It couldn't be. Not to Okumura Rin. The happy-go-lucky, stupid, cheerful idiot.

And that was fine with him. He didn't _want _them to think any differently of him. He did his best to act like normal and that nothing was wrong. Because as far as anyone else knew, nothing _was _wrong. He just smiled and pretended like he wasn't half-way imagining killing them all.

The worst, most disgusting part of it all, was that some sick, twisted, freaky part of him, his DNA, buried deep inside him, was getting _used _to it all.

And he hated himself for it.

"Hey, Okumura-kun, are you going to eat that?" Shima asked excitedly. Rin didn't answer. "Okumura-kun?" Rin stared blankly into space. "OKUMURA-KUN." Shima said louder, which finally got the demon's attention.

"Huh? Hm? What?" Rin jumped slightly, startled. Then he noticed that everyone, all his cram school friends that were _finally _talking to him again and maybe even beginning to trust him again, were all staring at him. Too bad he didn't trust himself much these days.

"Jeez, what's up with you these days? I called you like fifty times," Shima exaggerated to prove his point. "I asked if you were going to eat that melon bread you have there. It looks really good…"

Rin looked down at it sitting right next to him on the fountain they were eating at. After seeing some pretty gruesome images, he wasn't very hungry anymore. "Nah, I'm not really hungry anymore. You can have it if you want it." He tossed the bread to Shima, who caught it easily.

Shima looked shocked. Everyone knew how serious Rin was when it came to food. "What? REALLY! I CAN HAVE YOUR BREAD? THANK YOU, BEST FRIEND!" Shima tackled Rin into a hug. Rin let out an "Ooomph!" but quickly laughed. To everyone it sounded perfectly normal, but to one who knew him as well as Yukio did, it sounded almost forced. He was sitting next to Rin on the edge of the fountain where the cram school students (and Yukio who always accompanied Rin) met up to eat lunch every now and then. Seeing Rin interact with his friends normally, however, he decided he was just imagining things and shook his head.

Rin would tell him if anything was wrong.

* * *

><p>It was about another week later, and Rin was in the hallway at school, trying to make it to the bathroom while not so quietly falling apart. His head… Satan's voice was just BOOMING inside his head, making it pulsate painfully. For some reason the Demon Lord was being more aggressive than normal. He was just screaming inside Rin's head to let him take control, to give it up already. Something about how this was taking too long, and he was running out of time and patience to do things nicely.<p>

"Never," Rin whispered to himself, "I am NEVER going to give up and give my body to you." He trudged along the long hallway, grateful that no one seemed to be around. It was the middle of class, after all, and he had taken a detour to a stretch of the school that was pretty empty, to be sure that he wouldn't be bothered by anyone.

"_**Oh please. You could never resist me when I get SERIOUS. I am going to take control of your body one way or another and you can't stop me. And then I can put my plans for this world into motion." **_He sounded almost gleeful.

"Never," Rin hissed, "I would rather kill myself than see that happen. I will never let you." It was true. He'd rather die than be the cause of everyone he's ever cared about death. Maybe, just maybe, if he repeated it to himself enough then he'd believe that he'd actually be able to keep it from happening.

Satan's only answer was to send a sharp, searing pain throughout his skull. Rin gasped and fell to the ground, the pain too much to take. He curled into a ball on the cold tile instinctively, waiting for the pain to hopefully pass. Who knew, Satan was probably sadistic enough to keep this up indefinitely. He was the Devil, after all.

It was then that Rin heard the _thump thump _of boots on the floor, rapidly coming his way. He tried to stand up, but another wave of pain made him crumble to the floor again. He hissed and squeezed his eyes shut; maybe the person coming would ignore him if he looked like he didn't want to be found. One could only hope.

"Aaah! If it isn't Rin-kun! What are you doing here, all alone, on the floor? You look like you're in pain!" The obnoxious voice of Mephisto Pheles boomed almost as loud as Satan's through the corridor, making Rin want to cover his ears. He moved to do it, but instead found himself not in control of his own body. He made a feral hiss from the back of his throat and suddenly he was crouched in a defensive stance in his demonic form, fangs bared and flames out all around him. For the first time, he noted how the flames felt different from before. They were more of an electric blue color and were most definitely not under his control.

_They must be that bastard Satan's flames. Shit. He really does have some control of my body._ Rin tried to tell his body to do what he wanted, mainly to stop being so fucking stupid to the headmaster, but it wouldn't listen, no matter how hard he tried or how much force he put into his thoughts. It was like he and Satan's positions were switched; he was in the back of his own mind now, and Satan was at the front.

"OH MY, what is this?" Mephisto feigned shock. "Why Rin-kun, it looks to me like your flames are just a tad… different this time around. And your eyes… they're glowing an unusual brighter blue, just like your new flames. If I didn't know any better I'd say… those were Satan's flames."

_Oh no! shit, shit, shit, shit and shit! He found out! What the hell am I going to do?! Dammit, MOVE YOU FUCKING BODY!_ But once again, his body did nothing but what Satan wanted it to do. He could feel it preparing to attack and lunge at Mephisto, but just at the last minute Mephisto pulled something out of his coat pocket and stuck it on Rin's forehead with enough force to knock him back. Then the pain started. His forehead felt like it was fucking _melting._ He could hear himself screaming and feel himself rolling around on the ground, but at the same time it felt strangely all detached. But slowly, slowly, he began to feel himself in his own body again, until he felt like completely normal. All the pain was gone, except for a slight ache in the center of his forehead. The best part was, he couldn't even feel Satan anymore, not even in the back of his mind. His head felt clearer than it had in weeks. He actually _smiled _for real.

"Rin-kun, are you quite yourself again?" Mephisto's voice pulled Rin out of his happy realization. He suddenly felt very nervous. Who knew what Mephisto would do now that he knew the truth. Figuring it was best to acknowledge his sanity, Rin turned and nodded at Mephisto. "That's very good! And your head feels better, right?"

Rin nodded again, though he looked confused. Just how had Mephisto known that? Did he know more about Satan being inside him than he thought? And how had he been able to subdue his body in control of Satan anyway?

"I see you're confused! That is to be expected!" Mephisto laughed heartily. "I suppose you want to know how I was able to subdue you so easily?" Rin nodded, and Mephisto continued. "It's because I have this!" He dramatically pulled out the same object from before out of his pocket and shoved it in Rin's face with a flourish. It was a teeny, tiny cross. "This is a tool that I created myself that can work against Satan's flames. It cancels his demonic power out with holy power instead. This is the first time I've been able to test it, so we'll see if it has any kinks."

Rin nodded his understanding again. He gulped and decided to finally say what had been on his mind the whole time. "You won't… tell anyone… right? About me… and… Satan?" He mumbled the words, not being able to say them clearly due to nerves. He even looked down at the ground, unable to meet Mephisto's eyes. He didn't know what else to do but beg.

"Hmmm…" Mephisto appeared to be deep in thought. "I believe I have no choice but to tell the Vatican and everyone in the True Cross. It's my duty as Headmaster, you see. I deeply apologize, but we're going to have to kill you." He bowed slightly to show how "sorry" he was.

Rin's heart started beating faster. He started to panic, trying to think of any possible way out of this. "B-but I have to stay here! I can't die yet! I-I have to take care of Yukio! I can't leave him all alone!" Rin clenched his fists together, hating what he was about to do. "I-I'll do anything you want. Just please… please don't kill me or take me away from Yukio. Don't tell anyone about this. Please." He whispered one last time in a desperate plea for sympathy.

"Well, this is a surprise… I didn't think you were _that _desperate to live…" Mephisto smirked as an idea came into his head. _I wonder how far he'll go…_ "Do you mean ANYTHING?"

Rin took a deep breath, knowing that he was basically giving up his last shred of dignity. After this there would be nothing left of him. But he had to do it. "Yes."

"Well then! Come with me." He grabbed Rin's wrist harshly and led him away. Rin had a very, very bad feeling about this.

* * *

><p>Mephisto threw Rin with great force onto a big, pink bed with a canopy over top. It wasn't just the bed that was pink, but practically the whole room. It made Rin want to puke. "What the hell's going on? Where the hell are we? Why'd you bring me here?" Rin shouted, sounding braver than he felt.<p>

"We're in my quarters, obviously. Can't you see my exquisite taste everywhere?" Rin rolled his eyes at how proud Mephisto sounded at his horrible sense of style.

Suddenly Mephisto was on the bed as well, taking off his hat and tie. He crawled over to Rin, until he was almost straddling him. Rin's mind went blank, not wanting to process any thoughts at that moment. It just could NOT be possible.

"Wh-What the FUCK are you doing?" Rin shrieked and tried to scramble away. Mephisto grabbed his arm tightly, squeezing it painfully and pulled him back onto the bed. Rin's breathing became faster, erratic in its pace. He tried not to show how freaked out he really was, but he knew it was a losing battle.

"Isn't it obvious? This is how you're going to pay for me keeping your secret. With your body." Mephisto leaned in and whispered into Rin's ear. Rin pulled his head away quickly, hating the disgusting feeling.

"NO. NO. Anything but this. I refuse!" Rin yelled and attempted to get off the bed again, only to be met with the same result. Mephisto only pinned him tighter to the bed.

"Ah ah ah, you said you'd do _anything. _Are you going to go back on your word?"

"N-no, but I'm NOT doing this!" Rin wiggled and tried to worm his way out, to no avail.

"But this is what I _order _you to do. If you don't do it, I'll report you to the Vatican and you WILL be executed. It's your choice." Mephisto sneered, knowing exactly how much of a choice it really was.

"B-but... no… I said NO! I don't want to!" Rin outright panicked and tried to summon his powers. But when he called, they didn't come. He tried again, even trying to get Satan's attention, but that didn't work either.

"You're still feeling the effects of that little charm I used on you earlier. Your powers will be sealed away at least until morning." Mephisto smirked. "Now what do you say?"

"I SAY NO!" Rin screamed again and tried to unlock his limbs from Mephisto's hold, but his hold was too tight. It didn't help that he was beginning to get tired from all the shock and the pain.

"Well, if that's your choice, then I can't argue. Maybe I'll even add in Yukio to the execution as well, seeing how he harbored a dangerous criminal such as yourself, not to mention he's Satan's son too. He might turn out like you… yes, that would be a good idea…" Mephisto made to get up.

"N-no! No! Don't you dare!" Rin stopped struggling.

"It's all up to you… you can do whatever I ask of you… or sentence both you and your poor brother to death, who had nothing to do with this.. It would be a pity, wouldn't it?" Mephisto pretended to look sad, but it pissed Rin off to no end. But he thought about it, and could see no other way. He would NOT let his brother die because of him. No way. He really had no choice; Mephisto really would kill them both.

"…Fine." Rin whispered, almost inaudibly, but Mephisto heard it and smirked broadly, almost grinning. He had to look away because the sight made him sick and want to reconsider. But he knew he couldn't.

Rin tried to relax his body and let it happen. He really did. But he found he was so disgusted with the situation that his instincts took over and he fought back, but not seriously. He struggled and tried to wiggle out of Mephisto's hold, but never really tried to get away. It didn't matter, because Mephisto seemed to like it. Not that Rin wanted to make the sick bastard happy. He'd much rather have him rotting in the ground somewhere. He blamed the idea on Satan's bad influence.

Any noise Rin made was out of pain. It hurt so _much; _a part of him actually wanted to cry. But he didn't let that happen. He wouldn't give Mephisto the satisfaction. His screams of "No!" and "Please don't!" and simply of pain fell on deaf ears and only served to make the cruel clown-like man make it more painful for Rin, but more pleasurable for himself.

* * *

><p>Rin stumbled through the door of his and Yukio's room. He barely made it and collapsed onto the bed. He curled up into the tiniest ball he could and could already feel little tears burning behind his eyes, dying to be let out. But he wouldn't let them, because that was all he had left. He would NOT let Mephisto make him cry. He repeated it to himself over and over again, until he heard the door creak open, announcing Yukio's return from wherever he'd been.<p>

"Ah! Nii-san! What are you doing getting home so late? It's almost midnight." Yukio immediately saw Rin on his bed and walked over, intent on giving him an earful. But when he saw Rin's face, he closed his mouth. Something was wrong. He could sense it immediately. Rin looked like he was trying not to cry, and that he was holding himself to keep from falling apart. That was the impression Yukio got at least, and he was sure it was right. But he didn't know what to say to those dead looking eyes that seemed to look right past him.

"Where were you?" Yukio demanded, now knowing what else to do. Maybe he was overreacting, but his gut told him he wasn't. Something was wrong with his twin. They had twin sense, after all. But they why hadn't he felt anything was wrong until now?

Rin ignored him and stood up very slowly, as if he was in pain. He went to his closet just as slowly, and then started to walk out of the room. But Yukio wasn't having that.

"Don't ignore me, nii-san. Where are you going? I want answers." Yukio demanded again. He reached out to put a hand on Rin's shoulder, but before even a finger had touched it Rin dodged out of the way, flinching. Yukio was shocked. His brother had never turned away from his touch before. It was so unbelievable; his brother was a very touchy-feely kind of person, especially with him and especially lately. Yukio just stood there, frozen in disbelief.

"I'm taking a shower." Rin muttered. He walked away without any explanation or apology.

Yukio felt an almost overwhelming urge to go after him. It would be easy, because he was walking so slowly. He knew he should. He felt it with every fiber of his being. But he didn't. His body just wouldn't listen to him. He already regretted it.

* * *

><p><strong>So… yeah… what do you think? I've noticed that a lot of people think that begging for reviews is a bad thing, but… I have no morals so I don't care! :D if it gets me reviews, I'll do it! So pretty pretty please with sugar, chocolate, peanuts, marshmallows, and cherries on top please review! It makes me want to write and makes me feel loved! More reviews, faster chapter… generally. So please review. I'd love you for all eternity for it. And hey, don't be afraid to make suggestions or even a request. I will most definitely take it into consideration, and will most likely do it, as long as it fits in somewhere. <strong>


	7. Always

**Yoooo… iz me. Been a while, eh? **

**:Awkward silence:**

**Okay, so, uh, yeah. This isn't technically a real chapter. It's more of a side story. It doesn't move the plot along at all, just a lil fluffy moment in time. For fluff purposes only. And no, this doesn't exactly mean I'm starting this fic up again. It's more of a 'just to see if you're still interested for future reference' kind of thing. But the real reason I'm writing this is because of _Hoshigami Sheia_. She was so sweet and asked me so politely to continue that I couldn't resist. She was too cute. The compliments had nothing to do with it. Nope. Not at all. :shifty eyes:**

**This chapter is dedicated to Hoshigami Sheia!**

**DISCLAIMER: Even in my absence, I still do not own Blue Exorcist. Dammit. I'd hoped Kazue Kato would let down her guard for the poor little girl who just had surgery, but nope. She guards Rin like a wolf does her cubs. So Rin is not yet mine… yet. YET! YET I SAY!**

* * *

><p>Rin lay on his bed, motionless, as he had been for the past several hours. It was the middle of the night, but sleep didn't come easy these days. Or at all, really. He and the ceiling above his head were quickly on their way to becoming friends with benefits. Moving for the first time in hours, Rin turned to look at the bed across from his.<p>

Yukio, unlike his older brother, was sleeping soundly. Rin looked on with envy. But staring at his little brother's sleeping face, it reminded him of a time in the past. It was a night a lot like this one, sleepless, when they were children…

"_Yukio… Yukio, wake up!"_

_A ten year-old Yukio blinked his eyes open sleepily to see his brother standing over his bed. He had a glint in his eyes that told Yukio this wasn't going to be good. His brother was up to something again._

"_Nii-chan… What do you want? It's… ONE in the morning! Go back to sleep." Yukio said grumpily, hoping to deter his brother before any mischief started. No such luck. _

"_But I can't sleep, Yukio. C'mon, let's go do something fun together, like go to the park." _

"_NO. It's way too late for something like that. What if there are creepy people there? And father wouldn't want us to go out at night alone."_

"_But Yukio… please? Pretty please? I promise nothing bad will happen. We'll just hang out, like always." Rin pleaded, complete with the dreaded Puppy Eyes of Doom. He knew no one could resist it. Especially when he stuck his lower lip out slightly. But that was for emergencies only. _

"_I don't think so, Nii-chan… father would be really mad…" Yukio could feel his resolve crumbling when Rin made that face, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. _

"_Pleassssse? I'll even let you have the swing that goes the highest…"_

"_I don't think this is a good idea…"_

_Time to bring out the big guns. Rin stuck his lower lip in a pout and looked up at Yukio with wide eyes. "Please, Yukio? For me?"_

"…_That's not going to work forever, you know. Someday you're going to get old and you won't be cute anymore. And that will be a glorious day." Yukio grumbled, but he stepped out of his bed regardless. He had a feeling that Rin would sneak out even if he couldn't convince him to come along, and he wouldn't feel comfortable letting his brother go out at night alone. _

"_Thank you so much, Yukio~!" Rin grinned and hugged his brother tightly. _

"_Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this over with." Yukio sighed. _

_Rin grabbed Yukio's hand and led him to a window that opened easily, so that no one would hear them sneak out. Rin jumped out the window so easily that Yukio wondered if he'd had some practice with this sort of thing. He really did NOT like that idea. With Rin's careless nature, there was no end to the troubles that he could get into alone at night. _

"_Nii-chan…" Yukio said hesitantly as he landed outside the house after jumping gently out the window._

"_Hmmm?"_

"_You've done this before, haven't you?"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about." Rin said with an overly innocent look on his face that told Yukio everything he needed to know._

"_I'm your twin. I know when you're lying."_

_Rin stuck his tongue out childishly and ran ahead, leaving Yukio behind. _

"_Hey, wait, nii-chan! It's not safe to be out alone at night!" Yukio yelled, but not so loud as to wake anyone up in the neighborhood, and chased after his older brother. Rin was laughing, apparently deciding that he wanted to play tag. _

_And so Yukio was forced to chase after his older brother the entire way to the park, leaving him breathless and irritated when they finally reached their destination. Rin giggled at his brother's misery as he climbed a tree. He could tell Yukio was close to his breaking point, and he didn't want to be anywhere close when that happened. Plus, it was simply fun to annoy him. _

"_Nii-chan, get down from there! NOW. You could fall!" Yukio shouted. _

"_I'm not going to fall, Yukio." Rin said indignantly and continued to swing his legs from the branch he was sitting on. _

"_That tree doesn't look very safe."_

"_It'sfi-"Just as Rin said that, the branch shook and snapped. He tried to grab onto another one, but it was too late. He was falling. _

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Rin screamed, and Yukio screamed along with him out of fear for his brother. Thankfully, he had already been underneath Rin's spot in the tree while he was scolding him. He only had to run a few steps and caught his brother just in time. _

"_Owww…" The Okumura twins said simultaneously as they lay bruised on the ground. Yukio had broken Rin's fall, and now his older brother lay sprawled out on top of him, in too much shock and pain to move. _

"_I TOLD you the branches didn't look stable." Yukio grumbled, still slightly out of breath. He wanted to punch his brother, but couldn't find the strength to move yet. _

"_Yeah, yeah, Mr. Know-It-All. Want me to write a formal apology?" Rin shot back. _

"_In cursive."_

"_As if." Rin slowly got off his brother and onto his feet, groaning all the while from the pain. He had a few bruises that he knew would look just lovely in the morning. He'd have to be sure to wear long sleeves tomorrow to cover them up so as to not arouse suspicion where they came from. _

_Rin headed for the swing set. When he noticed his brother wasn't following him, he turned around and gave him an expectant look. "Are you coming?"_

"_Ugh. Just leave me to here to die." Yukio waved Rin away from his spot on the ground._

_Rin rolled his eyes. "I'm not leaving you behind, idiot. Here," Rin held out his hand to Yukio to help him up. Yukio stared at it for several seconds before sighing and taking the offered hand. His older brother smiled widely as he helped him up. _

_The two brothers walked hand in hand towards the swing set. Although Yukio admittedly didn't want to be here in the first place, he had to say that the night was quite beautiful. The moon was full and shining brightly, giving the two of them plenty of light to play by. He could hear the chirping of crickets hiding in the bushes, making the park seem incredibly peaceful. _

"_Remember, you promised me the swing that goes the highest, nii-chan." Yukio smiled lightly as he sat down on his designated swing._

"_Aw, man, why did I do that again?" Rin pouted as he sat on the swing next to his brother. He didn't stay down for long though. He quickly had a smile on his face and was kicking his feet to go higher on the swing._

_Yukio joined him and it wasn't long before they were giggling and engaging in a contest to see who could go the highest. Yukio won of course, having the only swing that wasn't damaged in any way. When Rin grew tired of swinging (and losing) he waited until his swing was as high as it could go before jumping off and landing swiftly on his feet._

"_Nii-chan, that was dangerous!" Yukio scolded from his swing._

"_Whatever. Now it's your turn, Yukio. Jump!"_

"_What? No way."_

"_C'mon, jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!" Rin chanted encouragingly. _

_Unable to ignore Rin's chants, Yukio gave in. He gulped, closed his eyes, and when his swing was at the highest point he jumped off. Due to the physical training he'd recently begun with his father, he was also able to land swiftly on his feet. This surprised him though, as he wasn't used to being able to measure up to his older brother. _

"_Whoa, cool, Yukio! You landed perfectly, just like I did!" Rin ran over and hugged Yukio tightly. Yukio laughed and hugged him back. _

_After another round of tag and searching for lightning bugs but not finding any, Yukio declared it was time to go home. Rin reluctantly agreed because they only had a couple hours before their father woke them up for school. _

_The twins held hands on their way home, simply because it was comfortable. Rin wouldn't admit it, but since there were no streetlights in this area and the moon was blocked by buildings it was a lot darker and that made him a little nervous. He just wanted to be sure his brother was right there alongside him. _

_As the siblings passed by a convenience store near their home a shadow suddenly jumped out of a nearby alley. Startled, Rin and Yukio stopped in their tracks. The shadow stepped closer to them and was revealed to be an older boy they had never seen before. But something about his stance and the look in his eyes made the brothers take several steps back. _

"_Listen here, little brats. I don't know what you're doing out alone at this hour, but I bet you got some candy money with you or something. Hand it over and no one gets hurt."_

"_We don't have any! Leave us alone!" Rin shouted and stood in front of Yukio protectively. _

"_I said hand it over." The teenager hissed and stalked toward them threateningly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. He waved it around to make sure the kids saw it._

"_And I said we don't have any money with us. Are you stupid?" Rin growled. He tensed for a fight, willing to take on someone much older if it meant keeping Yukio safe. He could feel Yukio trembling slightly at the sight of the knife. Rin put his hand over Yukio's briefly to calm him down but didn't take his eyes off the attacker._

_The teenager's eyes narrowed in anger at the remark and swiftly reached for Yukio's arm, to presumably grab him. Rin didn't give him that chance. Fast as lightning Rin punched the mugger in the gut several times. He didn't stop even when the teen started coughing up blood and crumbled to the ground._

"_Nii-chan!" Yukio's voice pulled Rin out of his bloodlust-induced haze. He blinked and saw the blood on his hands and covering his shirt. "It's okay now," Yukio whispered. "He can't hurt us. Let's get out of here right now, okay?"_

_Slowly, Rin nodded. He let go of the teenager's shirt and wiped the blood on his pants. Yukio reached for his hand and he took it, holding it tightly. The two ran as fast as they could the rest of the way home, not stopping to catch their breath. _

_Sneaking back in proved as easy as sneaking out. The siblings climbed through the window and crept to their room, collapsing on their beds with exhaustion. _

"_Never again," Yukio groaned. "I am NEVER going out with you in the middle of the night ever again."_

"_Ditto," Rin whispered back. _

_Ignoring his fatigue, Yukio forced himself to get off his bed and over to his brother's. He stood in front of Rin's curious figure and said quietly, "Thanks. For saving me. Again." Though his tone was sincere, he didn't exactly seem happy that he had to be 'rescued' again. _

_Sensing this, Rin grinned and said just as quietly "You too. Thanks for saving me tonight, remember?"_

_Yukio's eyes widened. He had forgotten about catching Rin from the tree. He gave a rare warm smile to Rin. "You're welcome. Even if I don't save you as much, I'm sure you'd fade to nothing if I wasn't around to keep you out of trouble."_

_Rin stuck his tongue out, but he knew it was true. "Then let's make a pact. Let's promise to always save each other, no matter what. Agreed?"_

"_Agreed." The brothers pinky-swore, making it official._

"_Good!" Rin laughed. "I'll always have your back, and you'll always have mine." He crawled under the covers of his bed and patted the spot next to him in a signal for Yukio to join him. _

_Yukio did as he was told and climbed in close next to his older brother. Just as they were about to drift off to sleep he whispered a single word. _

"_Always?"_

"_Always." Rin answered back._

"_Always."_

* * *

><p>It had been a crazy night full of unexpected twists that Rin wouldn't care to repeat, but it had been one of the best nights of his life. Even if they <em>had<em> forgotten to close the window so their old man had found out they'd snuck out. Cleaning the entire Monastery by themselves for a week straight wasn't THAT bad…

Rin glanced at Yukio's bed again. He knew his brother didn't get much sleep because of his crazy work schedule, but he couldn't help it. (If asked, Rin would say "Satan made me do it." It was actually half true; Satan wouldn't let him sleep. Damn demon. But at least he wasn't actually present in Rin's head at the moment, which was strange. Rin shrugged. He'd take his breaks where he could get them.)

Bracing himself for what he was about to do Rin padded over quietly to Yukio's side of the room. He took a deep breath for courage as this could possibly be hazardous to his health. Rin shook Yukio's shoulder and whispered "Yuuuukio? Are you asleep? Yukioooo?"

Rin immediately felt Yukio's body tense up. That wasn't a good sign. "Uh… Y-Yukio?"

Yukio slowly, ever so slowly, sat up in his bed. It made it all the more terrifying. Rin took a couple steps back for his safety. When his twin turned his glare on him he had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming like a girl in a horror movie. Yukio was _that _scary.

"Why?" Yukio hissed. "Why are you waking me up at one in the morning when you know I only get FOUR hours of sleep most nights?"

"Well, uh, you see…" Rin squeaked.

Yukio narrowed his eyes and Rin's fight-or-flight response really wanted him to choose flight. But the damage was already done, so Rin stood his ground. "… I-I couldn't sleep."

"…What?"

"I couldn't sleep okay? I was just lying there and it reminded me of that one time we snuck out in the middle of the night cause I couldn't sleep so I couldn't help myself and woke you up too." Rin spoke so fast Yukio could barely understand him.

Yukio sighed heavily. "Yes, I remember that night, Nii-san. You almost broke your neck falling out of a tree and I almost broke my ribs trying to catch you. And let's not forget we were almost mugged by a teenager. Good times." Yukio deadpanned.

"They were!" Rin said defensively.

"What about it?"

"Well, since you're already awake…"

"You're not seriously thinking of leaving the campus in the middle of the night are you?"

Rin just grinned and wagged his tail. He'd save the puppy eyes for later.

"…You are, aren't you?" Yukio groaned.

"You know me so well!"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Yukio grumbled as he walked through the cold night alongside his idiotic brother.

"And you said the Puppy Eyes of Doom would stop working!" Rin laughed.

"Shut up before I change my mind."

Rin smirked before taking off at a dead sprint. "Catch me if you can, Four Eyes~!"

Yukio ran after his twin with a growl. "Nii-san! Get back here! I'm not in the mood for this!"

"Pfft, you're just no fun anymore, Four Eyes." Rin sped up.

Rin and Yukio's impromptu game of 'tag' eventually led them to the local park. How and why Rin knew where it was, Yukio had no idea. When his older brother leapt up a tree, just as when they were children, he was tempted to just get out his guns and threaten Rin and be done with it. But he somehow managed to resist that very tempting urge and just settle for scolding his brother. Again.

"Nii-san, aren't you a little old for this?" Yukio said as he looked up the tree to where Rin was resting on a branch. Thankfully this one looked sturdy so that it would support his weight.

"Aw, come on, lighten up a little. You're just cranky." Rin teased.

"Yes, I am, so can we please leave?" Yukio rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." He sighed. Looks like he'd just have to wait for his older brother to get whatever this was out of his system.

The younger Okumura was surprised when his brother suddenly jumped down several branches in the tree until he was only a few feet above Yukio's height. Rin gave a mischievous grin and with no hesitation proceeded to slap Yukio across the face with his tail.

"NII-SAN!" Yukio yelled angrily as he dodged a second swipe. There was no force behind the slap, but it was still annoying. His brother's tail continued to dangle lazily around his face, rubbing itself under his noise and atop his head. Yukio got fed up with it and managed to grab the fluffy tail before it could cause him to sneeze. The sound of Rin's laughter was grating on his nerves, so he took the opportunity to squeeze the tail in his hands tightly, putting an end to Rin's fun.

"OOOOWWWWWWW! Okay, okay, I'll step, let go!" Rin shouted.

Yukio gave the tail one last squeeze for good measure before letting it go. Rin immediately pulled his tail up next to him and rubbed the abused spot, muttering about "Sadistic Four-Eyes."

"You shouldn't have your tail out anyway, Nii-san. Anyone could see it, and how could we explain that?" Yukio chastised.

"No one's around at this hour. It's fine. Stop being a worrywart, you'll go grey." Rin shot back. He closed his eyes and abruptly let himself fall out of the tree.

"Whoa!" Yukio caught Rin in his arms just in time. "You IDIOT! What the hell did you do that for?" He snapped.

"I knew you'd catch me." Rin said with a smirk.

Yukio dropped Rin on the ground harshly.

Owwww. I was gonna say thank you, but not anymore." Rin huffed.

He turned to Yukio and with a certain glint in his eyes slapped Yukio across the face one more time with his tail. He was practically giggling as he ran toward the swing set at supersonic speed to outrun his brother.

"NII-SAN! Get back here!" Yukio yelled, once again chasing after his brother. But there was no anger in his voice this time. In fact, one could say that he looked… amused.

Rin jumped on a swing and begun swinging high. The whine of the chains as they swung, the crickets, the full moon just as bright as that memorable night… Yukio felt a wave of déjà vu come over him. But watching his brother laughing and the big, shockingly blue eyes be bright for the first time in a while, Yukio gave a soft smile to himself. _Maybe this kind of thing isn't so bad every once in a while. _

Yukio joined his twin at the swing set and thus a battle to see who could swing the highest was started. Unexpectedly, the younger Okumura won. After begrudgingly declaring Yukio the winner of the battle Rin jumped off the swing at its highest point, as he did five years ago.

"Your turn! Jump, Yukio!" Rin beckoned.

"And why should I?"

"Cause it's fun! Just do it. Jump! Jump! Jump!"

Yukio rolled his eyes, but jumped off the swing landing gracefully on his feet. Rin cheered for his brother, still not quite used to the idea of him being a fully trained exorcist perfectly capable of physical exercise that most people couldn't do.

After that the Okumura's played "tag" again (Rin enticing Yukio to chase him by slapping him with his tail) and even searching for lighting bugs (Rin enticing Yukio to help him search by slapping him with his tail). This time, Rin actually found one. He didn't have a jar though, so he couldn't capture it. He stared it in awe until it flew away.

When Yukio declared that it was time to leave because he had to get ready for work in a couple hours Rin went willingly. Which meant Yukio only had to drag him a little.

As they passed by a convenience store on their way back to their dorm a big, hulking man covered in tattoos came out of an alley.

"Okay, shortie, this is how it's going to go. You hand over your money and no one gets hurt. You too, glasses." The man said as he stepped towards Rin

"…Are you having déjà vu too, Nii-san?" Yukio said, totally unaffected by the burly man's threat. His hand twitched towards where he kept his gun out of instinct though he would never use it on a civilian. It was an intriguing thought at the moment, however. He really must be grouchy.

"Yup." Rin nodded.

"I said hand over your-" He was cut off when Rin punched him in the gut. The man doubled over in pain, moaning. Rin kicked him in the same spot for good measure effectively knocking the guy out.

"Well, that takes care of that." Rin grinned.

"Nii-san, are you sure that was the best idea? And put your tail away! You're lucky he didn't see it because it's dark." Yukio sighed.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" The shop keeper ran out and saw the man lying on the ground. "What did you do?!"

''He attacked us first!" Rin yelled. He grabbed Yukio's hand and they ran in the direction of their dorm. He didn't want to be here if that guy called the police.

When they got to their room Rin threw his hands up triumphantly and yelled "Yeah, we made it! A successful trip!"

"Yes, Mr. Master Escape Artist. You can let go of my hand now."

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry." Rin dropped it like it was on fire. He hadn't realized he was still holding it. Strange. Must be a left over habit from when they young.

"Now let's go to sleep." Yukio's tone left no room for argument.

"Fine, fine." Rin changed into his sleep clothes and climbed into his bed. Just as Yukio was about to get into his own bed Rin waved Yukio over.

"What is it, Nii-san?" Yukio said in a curt tone. He wanted to get what little sleep he could in the time he had left until work. The park must have done the trick as his brother already seemed half asleep. He was surprised when Rin grabbed his hand again.

"Hey… do you still remember that one promise we made that night?" Rin said sleepily.

"Of course. I don't forget things easily like you do."

"It still… applies, right?"

Yukio's eyes widened. Whatever he had been expecting Rin to say, this wasn't it. His expression softened. "Yeah."

"Always?"

"Yes, always. Now go to sleep or you won't be able to wake up for school."

"Good…" Rin whispered and then he started lightly snoring.

Yukio sighed and turned to leave. But then he realized Rin's hand was still holding. Rin had a strong grip even in sleep, apparently. No matter how much he struggled it wouldn't loosen one bit. Yukio was tempted to shake Rin awake for revenge, but when he saw how peaceful his face was it was no use. He hadn't seen his brother's face that peaceful in a long, long time.

Groaning loudly in a last-ditch attempt to wake Rin up 'accidentally' he made himself comfortable on the side of Rin's bed. Before he drifted off to sleep he whispered one more time.

"Always."

* * *

><p><strong>I would LURVE it if you would let me know what ya thought? Please? Pwetty pwease? I shall give you the DREADED PUPPY EYES OF DOOM! So please review! But be gentle with me. I'm nervous about putting this out there, so… :Puppy Eyes of Doom:<strong>

**:Shrugs: And hey, I'm open to the idea of starting this up again in the near future. But only if y'all want me to. I don't know if I can recover from the last real chapter, but I might be willing to try. So please let me know what you think. **

**Tee hee, sorry about all the long Authors Notes. I had a lot to say this time. I'll shut up now. :D But only if you REVIEW. **


	8. Festival

**Yes, your eyes are not mistaken. This is an UPDATE. A REAL CHAPTER. Not a related story, a real chapter. I know, took me long enough. **

**Yes, your eyes are not mistaken. The AN where I declared I was putting this fic on hiatus is gone as well. Take from that what you will.**

**Now, just to be clear, I have not read the manga in MONTHS. I think the last one I read was 45 or 47, something like that. Why? Because in my personal opinion the manga was starting to suck. The author seriously needs to go back to the demons and stuff, not the crappy and forced love triangle. Plus, the utter lack of Rin and Yukio interaction. Ugh. The anime was surprisingly better. Anyways, I feel the need to tell you this because the True Cross Academy Festival dance is included in this chapter. I HAVE NOT READ THE CHAPTERS OF THE MANGA WHERE THE DANCE IS INCLUDED. Thus, the dance will be absolutely nothing like what appears in the manga. I'm basically just borrowing the idea that there's a dance at all. **

**DISCLAIMER: Kazue Kato still won't give me Rin, no matter how much I beg or plead or how many tantrums I throw. I tried to go into hiding to fool her into thinking I gave up on Rin, but she found out my nefarious plot to kidnap him. Dammit.**

* * *

><p>Okumura Rin woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window, birds chirping, not a cloud in the sky. In fact, it seemed extra blue today, possibly the most blue he had ever seen it. It was beautiful.<p>

And it thoroughly pissed him off.

Why should the sun be shining? Why should the sky be so blue? Why should everyone else be allowed to be happy when he was so damn miserable? He was struck by the sudden desire to just blot everything out. Erase everything in this so called world. And why shouldn't he? He knew he could. He felt the power buried deep inside him, waiting to be called forth. Why should he be the only one to suffer? Why? Why? Why? Why? _Why?_

And then Yukio came into the room and everything was suddenly okay again. Rin's hold on his sanity came back in an instant and everything else just… disappeared.

"Nii-san, are you awake now? Do you want breakfast?" Yukio's eyes were kind and gentle, but Rin could clearly the see the concern hidden in them. So he'd noticed something was off about him last night after all… Of course he would. Yukio was too perceptive not to.

Rin moved to get up from his sitting position on the bed, but stumbled and his legs gave out from underneath him. Fast as the bullets he shot out of his gun, Yukio was there to catch Rin, despite the fact that he would have most likely just fallen back onto the bed. Yukio grabbed him around the waist before he could fall.

"Nii-san, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?" Yukio put his forehead against Rin's, as his arms were still wrapped around Rin's waist, holding him up. The entire time Rin was frozen. He didn't dare move an inch. He felt he couldn't if he wanted to.

Rin mumbled something so quietly Yukio failed to hear it the first time, despite their very close proximity. "What was that, Nii-san?"

"Don't…"

'"Huh"

"Don't touch me!" Rin screamed. He pushed Yukio with what he strength he possessed at the moment, which wasn't much, but it caught him by surprise enough that he fell down. Rin almost made it halfway to the door of their dorm before his legs buckled beneath him.

Yukio shot up and immediately went to help Rin. He tried to put his arms around Rin's waist again, but the older twin wasn't having that. He thrashed around as much as he could, elbowing Yukio in the face and nearly knocking his glasses off. But that didn't deter Yukio in the slightest. He ignored Rin's flying fists, the screams of "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" He ignored it all. When Rin finally seemed to run out of energy to hold him back, Yukio sank to the floor in front of him and pulled him against his chest in a hug.

"No… No… No no no no no no," Rin chanted. He struggled, to no avail. Yukio was holding him as tight as humanly possible.

"It's okay, Nii-san. It's me, Yukio. Calm down."

Yukio felt Rin go limp in his arms. He allowed himself to be held and even helped to his feet, with Yukio holding him around the waist still. When Yukio finally got a good look at Rin's face, his own face fell. Rin's eyes were moist, just like last night. He was holding back tears he was too stubborn to let fall. Not just that… they looked dead.

"Let's… get you something to eat, okay Nii-san?" Yukio tried to keep his smile even and his voice gentle.

Slowly, Rin nodded his consent. Yukio tried to help him down the stairs, but Rin elbowed Yukio in the gut and walked down himself. When they got to the kitchen Rin seemed to look a little more alive. The elder Okumura stood in front of the kitchen, as if he weren't sure he was welcome there. With a small smile, Yukio held out his hand to him and whispered, "It's okay. C'mon. I'll help you cook."

For the first time in a long time, Rin relaxed.

Rin attempted a smile and said "I don't know, you might be more trouble than you're worth."

"Pot and kettle, Nii-san."

* * *

><p>In the following days Yukio noticed his brother was acting weirder than usual. After that morning, he'd changed. He was no longer the vibrant, hyper, half-crazy older brother he knew. Now he was much more subdued and even quiet at times. Sometimes Yukio would come home from work and actually see his brother <em>studying. <em>He could also tell though, that his brother was _trying_ to act normal. He would still smile and crack jokes and act like an idiot in class. But he just wasn't the same. Yukio couldn't tell if others noticed the difference; he didn't think so. But he was the one who knew Rin best in this world, and he could tell something was wrong. He just didn't know what.

Truthfully, it shouldn't bother him this much. Yes, they were brothers. Yes, they were twins. Yes, they were relatively close. But should it bother him this much? Most siblings couldn't get along very much at all. Some acted like they hated each other's guts. Because they'd lived in the monestary almost their entire life and there were no other kids their age around, most of the time the only playmates their own age were each other. Even during middle school they didn't associate much with other students outside of school. They had each other, and that was all they needed.

But now that they were in high school, wouldn't it be considered strange to be this close? Yukio was the younger one, Rin should be worrying about him. But due to their personalities, for all intents and purposes Yukio took on the role of the older brother. He didn't mind it, but it definitely would be considered strange.

At first Yukio told himself Rin was fine; if something was wrong he could handle it himself. That's how it should be, they weren't attached at the hip anymore. But as Yukio watched the changes in his brother day by day he found he couldn't ignore it. He'd had a bad feeling ever since Rin came home that night and acted highly freaked out.

Logically, if one wanted to discuss what was bothering another person they would go to that person. But as of late Rin had been very evasive. He'd come and go from their room at odd times; one night Yukio woke up to Rin creeping into the room at two in the morning. If Yukio tried to broach the subject in the slightest, Rin would either walk away without saying a word or smile a sickeningly fake smile and shake his head.

It was becoming incredibly irritating. Yukio would often start writing his lesson plans or doing homework and then an hour later he'd realize he spent the entire time thinking about his brother. It was getting to the point where he had no idea whether he was concerned for his brother of if he wanted to kill him in his sleep. The latter was especially tempting at the moment.

After several weeks of Rin's uncharacteristic behavior and Yukio having no idea how to solve the puzzle that was his brother, he felt he had no other choice. Perhaps talking about it with the Headmaster would help. It could be something demon-related, after all.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Nii-san, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office."

"Huh?" Rin looked up from the homework he was attempting to complete. More like, he was trying to balance a pencil on his upper lip while staring at the problems and wishing they would solve themselves.

"I said, the Headmaster wants to see you in his office right away." Yukio came and glanced over at Rin's uncompleted homework. "It's not as if you're doing anything important…"

"Hey! This is too important! And I'm not seeing that stupid clown, so you can tell him to go screw himself."

"But Nii-san-"

"NO."

Rin's fists were clenched tightly. If Yukio looked closely, he could see him trembling. Rin was scared, Yukio could feel it emanating off him like an aura surrounding him. With their emotions so connected due to being twins it didn't take much at all for Yukio to see how terrified Rin really was. He almost felt the fear himself, Rin's emotions were so powerful. But why would he be scared of seeing the Headmaster?

Yukio sighed. "I don't know why you don't want to see him, but I can guarantee if you don't go to his office right now he'll come to you. You know how he is."

"I know… but I want it to be clear that I'm not doing this willingly." Rin's voice was small and it trembled ever so slightly, like his body.

Yukio had no idea what to say to that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

That night Yukio was once again woken up by Rin. Being a very light sleeper, he woke up at the sound of rustling blankets and footsteps. He opened his eyes and saw Rin walking out of their room. Immediately, Yukio could tell that Rin was not himself. His eyes were unfocused, glazed. His body moved mechanically, nor Rin's casual stride at all.

These were similar to… the characteristics of being under a spell.

Yukio quickly moved to follow Rin. He kept him in sight, but stayed a safe distance behind in case the person casting the spell was around. He followed his brother out of their dorm and to the school. Strangely, there was no security around the school that night. Yukio doubted it was a coincidence. His brother opened a door into the school with ease. It wasn't even locked. From there Rin walked in his trance through the winding corridors to… the Headmaster's office.

The door opened seemingly by itself. Rin stepped into the office. Yukio dashed to the door, but he wasn't fast enough. The door closed before Yukio could use his foot to keep it open a crack. Scowling, Yukio put his ear to the door in an attempt to eavesdrop.

Muffled voices. And then, clear as day, he heard his brother's trademark yelling. Rin was pissed off. Very, very pissed off that the Headmaster had put him under a spell in the middle of the night and forced him into his office. There were several minutes of Rin simply spouting every profanity he knew to the Headmaster's face.

Suddenly, everything went quiet. The only sound coming from behind the door was silence. Yukio waited for several moments before throwing caution to the wind and slowly opening the door.

There was nothing there. Yukio stood in the middle of the room, completely alone.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"It appears you were followed." Mephisto said with his usual smirk on his face. The sight of it sent shivers down Rin's spine.

"What? By who? Is that why you teleported us or whatever to your place all of a sudden?"

"Yes, your little brother."

"Oh. Well, not my problem. You're the one that put me under that damn spell and made me come here in the first place, you fucking clown."

"Language, Okumura. Language." Mephisto chided.

"Like I give a fuck. What the hell did you make me come here for?" Rin hissed.

"To teach you a lesson." If it was possible, Mephisto's smirk grew even wider. There was a glint in his eyes that Rin didn't like. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Go fuck yourself. I'm leaving." Rin moved for the door, but before he could take a single step he found his body was paralyzed. He couldn't move a muscle. Not even to cuss out Mephisto some more.

"This is what happens when you refuse a summons by me. Ignore my orders again, and your punishment will be more severe next time. So please, don't let there be a next time. I don't _like_ to harm you."

Mephisto's sickeningly sweet voice made Rin want to puke. Since it was all he could do, he glared at Mephisto for all he was worth. The voice of Satan inside him cackled with glee, overjoyed at Rin's misery. _This is what you get for caring about humans, _it said.

"Now strip."

* * *

><p><em>Regrets collect like old friends<br>Here to relive your darkest moments  
>I can see no way, I can see no way<br>And all of the ghouls come out to play_

_And every demon wants his pound of flesh_  
><em>But I like to keep some things to myself<em>  
><em>I like to keep my issues drawn<em>  
><em>It's always darkest before the dawn<em>

_And I've been a fool and I've been blind_  
><em>I can never leave the past behind<em>  
><em>I can see no way, I can see no way<em>  
><em>I'm always dragging that horse around<em>

_Our love is pastured, such a mournful sound_  
><em>Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground<em>  
><em>So I like to keep my issues drawn<em>  
><em>But it's always darkest before the dawn<em>

_Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa_  
><em>Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa<em>  
><em>And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back<em>  
><em>So shake him off, oh whoa<em>

_And I am done with my graceless heart_  
><em>So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart<em>  
><em>'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn<em>  
><em>It's always darkest before the dawn<em>

_Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa_  
><em>Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa<em>  
><em>And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back<em>  
><em>So shake him off, oh whoa<em>

_And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back_  
><em>And given half the chance would I take any of it back<em>  
><em>It's a fine romance but it's left me so undone<em>  
><em>It's always darkest before the dawn<em>

_Oh whoa, oh whoa..._

_And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't_  
><em>So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road<em>  
><em>And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope<em>  
><em>It's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat<em>  
><em>'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me<em>  
><em>Looking for heaven, found the devil in me<em>  
><em>Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me, yeah<em>

_Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa_  
><em>Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa<em>  
><em>And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back<em>  
><em>So shake him off, oh whoa<em>

_Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa_  
><em>Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh whoa<em>  
><em>And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back<em>  
><em>So shake him off, oh whoa<em>

-"Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine

"Literally."

* * *

><p>It was that time of year again. Time for the True Cross Academy Festival. Not just that, but it was the night of the dance. The aura of excitement around the campus was nearly palpable; the students could barely bring themselves to concentrate during the day. They'd counted down the weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the dance would begin.<p>

And now that moment was finally here.

The students of True Cross Academy filed into the ballroom at a steady pace, each one with their date. Only boy and girl couples were allowed into the dance per the rules. Almost the entire student body was there, with only the unfortunate few that couldn't find dates excluded. Both Okumura's were in attendance, however.

"There sure are a lot of people here, huh, Rin-kun?" Shiemi smiled at Rin from their place in line waiting to enter the ballroom.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, there sure is." He smiled back.

Rin knew that Shiemi had only asked him to the dance because Yukio couldn't go. He had to work as a staff member, after all. Shiemi knew that Rin had really wanted to go to the dance, so she'd asked him- just as friends, of course. He didn't mind. He'd come to the conclusion that a relationship between him and Shiemi was doomed from the start. She was still hung up on his little brother. Besides, even if she had started to show interest, he would never feel good enough for her. Shiemi deserved so much better than some fucked up half-demon, the son of Satan no less. He still harbored a deep affection for her, but gave up hope of being anything more than friends. He didn't deserve her.

After several minutes of waiting in line Rin and Shiemi were finally led into the ballroom. And man, was it worth the wait.

Candles were suspended in the air through magic, casting a haunting glow throughout the enormously spacious ballroom. Tones of deep blue decorated the walls around the stage were the night's entertainment was set to play. The effect was eerie and yet beautiful at the same time. Rin couldn't tear his eyes away from the ballroom's beauty to look at Shiemi.

"It's so _beautiful_!"Shiemi awed.

"Yeah, they sure did a nice job," Rin's eyes were wide as he tried to take it all in.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun tonight, Rin-kun. I can feel it!" Her cheeks were rosy and her kimono the most it had ever been, in tones of blue that shimmered in the light and an incandescent silver. Suddenly, Rin didn't have trouble in paying attention to Shiemi.

"Definitely." Rin smiled back and he was surprised to find that it was genuine. Strange.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The music started. The dance was underway. Rin decided that tonight, just for tonight, he'd do his best to put out everything concerning Satan and demons and whatnot. For one night only, he'd try his damnedest to be a normal teenager at a normal dance. He'd ignore the voice in his head telling him that was impossible and he should just give up. Tonight, he'd be_ normal_.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned for the Okumura family.

Okumura Yukio stood by the entrance to the ballroom casually greeting students as they strode inside. He was basically there to take attendance. Another staff member had been doing the job until Yukio relieved him a few minutes ago, so he'd missed his brother's entrance with Shiemi.

The night seemed to drag on and on. What in reality had been half an hour or so felt like several hours. And it wasn't because he was simply standing against the wall doing nothing but glancing at the students now and then to make sure nothing inappropriate was going on. At least, that wasn't the _only _reason. As Yukio watched the dance floor half-heartedly a blushing and laughing Shiemi and a grinning Rin came into view dancing energetically.

And _that _was why the night couldn't end fast enough.

Shiemi and Rin hadn't left the dance floor once. Yukio had no idea why, but the sight of them being so close to each other, laughing, irritated him to no end. Whenever they came into view he just wanted to kick something. Hard. It was a completely illogical reaction, but for some reason he couldn't help it.

The night dragged on. The bands continued playing their loud music, which was not helping Yukio's forming headache. With every beat of the drum his head throbbed painfully. Suddenly, the raging beat gave way for a steady thrumming.

"Okay, now we're going to slow it down for a few minutes here. Everybody grab your date tight!" Said the lead singer as he stepped up to the microphone stand.

The lights dimmed. The singer's deep timbre filled the room as the students headed for the dance floor. It was a sweet love song, and it sounded vaguely familiar to him. In any other situation he might have welcomed a chance to listen to it live. But right now, he hated every second of it.

Through the corner of his eye he saw Rin grab Shiemi's hand from her spot by the wall, gesturing her to join him on the dance floor. Shiemi blushed and shook her head, embarrassed. Rin smiled gently and whispered some pleading words in her ear, as the music was too loud for normal conversation. Reluctantly, Shiemi allowed Rin to lead her to the dance floor. Once there she laid her head on Rin's shoulder after only a moment of hesitation and they began to sway to the music.

Yukio gritted his teeth. Why the hell was this bothering him so much? His brother deserved to be happy, didn't he? Why should he begrudge him that?

With one last drawn out note the song came to an end. Shiemi lifted her head and Rin leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She blushed and did the same. Rin nodded and quickly, as if so she wouldn't lose her nerve, Shiemi raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed Rin on the cheek.

That did it.

The band announced there was going to be a quick intermission and left the stage. Yukio took advantage to trudge over to the dance floor where all the students were exiting and locate Rin. He grabbed a wide-eyed Rin's wrist and turned to Shiemi with his absolute best fake smile and said "Pardon me, Shiemi, but I will need to borrow my brother for a minute. I hope you don't mind?"

"Oh, uh, no, of course not. Not at all!"

"Thank you." Yukio proceeded to drag Rin by the wrist to the exit and out the door.

"HEY! What the hell, idiot four-eyes? I was having a good time with Shiemi! What do you want?" Rin yelled and struggled to detach Yukio's grip, to no avail.

When they'd walked far enough that Yukio was certain no one else would be around he finally let Rin's wrist go. "Should you really be out having fun when you have so many other important things to do, Nii-san?" Yukio said in a low voice.

Rin scowled. "I can do whatever the hell I want. Why do you care? You're here too!"

"I'm only here because it's part of my job. What's your excuse?"

"So I want to have fun? Is that a fucking crime?"

"It's wasting your time. You should be either studying or learning how to control your powers!"

"It's one goddamn night. Leave me alone." Rin turned to leave but Yukio yanked on his arm and pulled him back.

"What about Shiemi? Should you really be involved with an innocent girl like her when you're the son of Satan? Did you ever think of the consequences that could have for her?"

"What _about _Shiemi? We're just here as friends. I'm not 'involved' with her in any other way."

Yukio raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Somehow I find that hard to believe. I know you like her."

"I did, but… I realized she deserved someone better. I just want to be friends with her."

Yukio didn't know how to respond to that. He released his grip on Rin's sleeve and let his hand drop. The silence hung over them heavily. Rin looked down at the ground and fidgeted, seemingly waiting for Yukio to explain what this was all about. Yukio himself didn't know so the silence continued on.

Finally Rin sighed in aggravation. "Look Yukio, you're too uptight. That's your problem. Letting loose for one night won't kill you. Live a little."

"You know very well I can't do that. I have a job to do."

Rin rolled his eyes. "Why do I even bother?"

Without warning the guitar started blaring out of the ballroom. Intermission was over and the dance was back in full swing. Suddenly, Rin was the one grabbing Yukio's wrist and hauling him closer to the ballroom where the music was louder.

"Nii-san, let go." Yukio tried to detach his wrist but was no match for Rin's demonic strength.

"Nope! This is my favorite song by this band and you're gonna dance with me!" Rin grinned widely and continued to pull Yukio along.

"What? No. I'm not doing that."

"Yes you are. You owe me for interrupting my friendly date with Shiemi."

"But-"

"No buts."

Rin finally deemed them close enough to the music that it was an acceptable volume for them to dance to. He started swaying to the music and motioned for his brother to do the same. When Yukio stood there with a stone face he frowned and pulled him closer.

"Dance or I'm gonna slap you with my tail until you do," Rin threatened.

With a groan Yukio slowly started swaying to the music. Rin started singing along to the song and moving faster. He wagged his eyebrows in a challenge for Yukio to do the same. Never one to back down, Yukio began to mirror Rin's movements. Soon enough he and Rin were twirling around, doing crazy erratic dance moves perfectly in sync. Rin laughed joyously and Yukio couldn't help but think that made the whole thing worth it.

Yukio smiled to himself. For the first time in a long time he was having _fun. _He probably looked like an idiot, but he couldn't bring himself to care. There was no one else around anyway.

As Rin and Yukio continued to dance the night away Yukio realized something with a start. It hadn't been Rin that had made him so irritated earlier. He wasn't jealous of Rin.

He'd been jealous of Shiemi.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Rin was summoned to Mephisto's office the next morning he groaned and dreaded it with every fiber of his being, but went anyway. He made a point to be late, but was sure not to refuse.

"What do you want?" Rin hissed as he slammed the door into Mephisto's office.

"Now now. It is nothing of _that _nature. I just wanted to inform you of a very important development in your journey of becoming an exorcist." Mephisto handed some papers to Rin.

"What are these?" Rin asked with a furrowed brow.

"Very important information! They're details on your next mission."

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it. I will do my best to update more than twice a year until I finish this damn thing, but I make no promises. But your reviews will help! PLEASE REVIEW. And please, be gentle with me. I've decided to finish this thing, but I'm very fragile. One mean REVIEW could possibly make me go into hiding again. I would love you with all my heart and soul if you would REVIEW. I would give you cookies if you pushed that REVIEW button down there. So please REVIEW. <strong>


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